IW: Crossover
by SabrinaMagnus
Summary: Crossover of Doctor Who (with a little Torchwood)/ Stargate (all) and others. Started as a Rose/Clara story but a particular phrase in the 50th-anniversary special got me to thinking. That phrase was about the Moment being the "... final work of the Ancients of Gallifrey." Rated for Safety. Come inside to see just how impossible the Impossible Wolf could be. Slightly crack-fic.
1. Chapter 1: Rose

**Disclaimer:** This is the only time this will appear. I make no money from this. I don't own the toys, I just play with them. Please read the ENTIRE Author's Note (A/N) as like the disclaimer, it is the only one I intend to have. Any A/N's in later chapters will be spur of the moment for reasons I can't imagine right now, but likely there will be no others.

 **A/N:** This story is AU and meant for fans that have an understanding of Doctor Who series 1-9 as this will not be a complete rewrite. I will rewrite some key elements, but for the most part, the series as you know it will remain the same. This story is more like my own personal version of an extraction chamber from the end of series 9, but with one hell of a twist. It will eventually cross over with Stargate and possibly others. I am Rating this story M as in for mature audiences only, for language and possible adult scenes. If such language and possible adult situations are offensive or age-restricted against you in your region, please turn back now. I say possible because I don't know how the story will go yet. I don't mind reading it but I don't write smut, I don't even think I could if I tried, but that doesn't mean some adult situations won't happen. I'm writing this author's note with barely the seed of the idea for this story planted in my brain. The only thing I can say with absolute certainty right now is the primary pairing will be Rose/Clara and a background pairing will be the Doctor/River. For Torchwood fans: this AU story has a quick change to Children of Earth and Miracle Day doesn't happen. And yes, the color purple in this has some significance beyond being my favorite color. Also, please forgive me if I misuse or don't use enough of, regular British phrases/slang etc. I humbly admit that I'm just a stupid American. OH, and before anyone asks, the hell with Ashildr. I'm going to let her rot at the end of the universe. And in this AU, Rose was never romantically interested in the Doctor, nor was Clara romantically interested in Danny Pink. Hopefully last bit of A/N here. This story has gone way beyond anything I expected. See my profile for details.

 **A/N1:** I try to make it clear early on, but in case it's not, Rose was born with empathic abilities.

 ** _Chapter 1: Rose_**

"Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asked. She was coming down from her adrenaline rush but was honestly curious if this was just another day for The Doctor.

"Yeah!" The Doctor nodded with a slightly manic grin. He was surprised how brave this pink and yellow human was and if he were to be honest with himself, he was grateful for her help. What better way to show his gratitude than to show her something magnificent?

" _Oh, just say yes! You know you want to! The only thing really keeping you here is Micky and you know that's not working out anyway!_ " She patted Micky's back as he suddenly clung to her waist, but still didn't look away from the Doctor's gaze. "Yeah, I can't," she started with genuine regret. "I've… um… I've g-got and go and find my Mum, and someone's gotta look after this stupid lump," she grinned down at Micky briefly to show him she wasn't trying to be hurtful with her words, just lightly teasing.

The Doctor tried not to let the hurt and surprise show on his face. He really did want to thank her and maybe have her travel with him for a while. It's been a long time since he had a companion to see the universe with. "Okay… See ya around," he said, slowly stepping back into his mysterious blue box and slowly shutting the door.

Soon after the door shut, a light wind picked up, and a groaning, wheezing sound filled the air. A moment later the blue box started to disappear from sight until it was gone, and the wind vanished with it. Rose instantly regretted her decision. She saw the look on his face and knew from just the brief time she spent with the Doctor that he had a deep hurt within him. It didn't matter how brave a face a person put on, she always knew.

And this time it was something she knew personally. She knew that feeling of sad loneliness, that questioning of what is wrong with you inside. She wished she could help him to find something bright in the world again, but she knew she just gave up that chance and felt a deep sorrow for it.

"Come on, let's go," she said to Micky as she helped him to his feet. She started leading him away, pondering the talk they would need to have soon, and trying to push away her regret.

Then she heard it again, that amazing sound of groaning and wheezing. She turned around in surprise tinted with hope as the wind picked up again and her hair started blowing about her, and then she saw the blue box once again dissolving into reality.

As soon as all was still again, the door whipped open and the Doctor poked his head out. "By the way, did I mention, it also travels in time?" he asked with an obviously fake grin, but just a tiny little spark of hope could be seen in his eyes.

Rose smiled at him. She wasn't going to let this chance slip through her fingers again. She turned to Micky and her smile dropped, replaced by a sad look. She knew things weren't working between them, and she also knew she didn't have a lot of time to have that talk with him. She hoped they could eventually be mates again, but she knew he had to move on from her, so she decided that she had to end it right there.

She kissed his cheek before stepping away. "I'm sorry, Micky, but we both know this wasn't working anymore. You'll always be one of my very best mates though, so thanks."

"For what?" he asked her with a confused but resigned expression on his face. He knew she was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

She smiled sadly at him. "For everything," she replied, before turning and running into that amazing blue box.

She ran through the door, closing it behind her as she jogged up the ramp to the center console of the Doctor's magical machine, grinning happily at him.

He stood there at the console, his sadness and depression taking a break from his face as he tried to look impressive, tossing and catching some gadget in his hand. "Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me. Where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time? It's your choice, what's it gonna be?"

She smiled at him, the tip of her tongue slightly poking between her teeth. " _Oh, this is going to be fun!_ "

 **.oOo.**

Rose sat in the living room of her mum's flat, bantering back and forth with her mother about preventing world war three, and about the Doctor, all the while thinking about the fact that she had been gone for a year, and wondering why that didn't bother her more. Suddenly, something her mother said halted all her thoughts besides the conversation she was having.

"I'm not infatuated," Rose insisted. She needed her mother to understand this. For some reason that she couldn't understand, it was vitally important to her that she make her mother understand it's as far from that as possible, and that she isn't even interested in dating at all at the moment.

"He's hurting, Mum. I don't know why yet, he doesn't like to talk about personal stuff, but I can tell he's hurting," she explained, a few unshed tears welling up in her eyes.

Jackie Tyler was probably not the best example of a role model, but she did understand right away. She knew her daughter was highly sensitive to other's feelings, but this was so far beyond anything she could have imagined, that she was genuinely afraid for Rose. "You know you can't fix everyone, sweetheart. You've learned that lesson the hard way."

"This is different, Mum. When I first met him, he seemed so… lost, and broken, like something so much more than I could possibly understand has been ripped away from him. But when he takes me to new places, there is a spark behind his eyes, like seeing someone else's first reaction is a reason to keep on going." She paused, trying to find the right words.

Jackie sat there looking at her daughter in a new light. This was not a girl with a crush. This was her daughter, wanting to use her gift to help a friend in need, a friend that had saved the world, many times if the stories Rose has told her today were true. In an epiphany born of fear, she had to wonder, what would happen if this Doctor, this man who apparently saves entire worlds, decided to give up entirely? Could this be why her daughter was born so sensitive to other's feelings? Was this why she had to know two different versions of her daughter?

"Well, don't you go disappearing for a whole year again."

Rose jumped up to hug her mother tightly and sporting a brilliant smile, thankful for her mother's understanding before she rushed off to her room to properly pack for her return to the TARDIS.

 **.oOo.**

Rose lay in her bedroom in the TARDIS, curled up, tears streaming down her face. She'd felt so sorry for the Dalek at first. It was dying and so alone, but that feeling of being alone, and fear of dying alone, also felt foreign from it, as if it didn't know what those feelings were, and was afraid of the feelings themselves. Then she felt fear. Fear for everyone, and _from_ everyone, even from the Doctor. Then, as she was trapped with it, she felt a mix of fear, and confusion, with just a hint of curiosity, and a large helping of determination thrown in for good measure.

She tried to dry her eyes, but the tears kept flowing. Now that they were back, safe in the TARDIS, her mind could properly sort through all the emotions she felt, and it hurt! Most of all, what she felt from the Doctor made her wonder how he continued traveling.

She felt his happiness that she was still alive, his pride that she stood up to a Dalek. She shivered as she recalled his pure hatred of the Daleks, and she wept for his own self-loathing and hatred. She also hated herself for the moment that she had felt afraid of the Doctor, it was written all over his face, as if she'd slapped him harder than her mother. Between herself, the Doctor, and the Dalek, it was a hurricane of emotions that built up and now each of the feelings were tearing her apart in their fight for dominance.

She had managed to show Adam to the kitchen before her shell started to crack. She left him there to relax or have a bite to eat, saying she was tired and needed a nap. She just wanted him to see the beauty in the universe so he wouldn't make another mistake like working for Van-Staten. But now, curled up on her bed, she couldn't even give him a second thought as the emotions of the day swirled through her mind.

Rose was still in tears when the TARDIS background sounds started to hum soothingly, and she felt a bundle of emotions tied in a knot approaching. She looked up as the door opened, and the Doctor stepped in. She couldn't stop her movement. She flung herself at him and choked out her apologies for her part in the day.

He stood there awkwardly for a few moments before his Time Lord telepathy picked up on the maelstrom of emotions and confused thoughts that were screaming out from her head, and he did the only thing he could, he returned the embrace, and just let her get it out. Nine-hundred years taught him how to bury his feelings when he needed or wanted, and he didn't realize until just then how sensitive his companion's empathy truly was. He felt wave after wave of her pent-up feelings wash over him, before using his abilities to help her. He couldn't take them away, but he could dampen them a bit so they weren't totally overpowering her. Between the exhaustion of the day and all the emotions that came with it, the TARDIS's soothing hums, and the Doctor helping to dampen her raw emotions, she finally fell into a deep sleep, right there in the Doctor's arms.

He set her on the bed and pulled the TARDIS blue duvet over her sleeping form. He decided that he would help her learn to control her empathy so that it wouldn't control her. But that would come later. For now, it was time for his pink and yellow companion to get a well-deserved rest.

 **.oOo.**

The Doctor took Rose's hand and led her back to the TARDIS. Having just held her father as he died, he wasn't sure if she'd be able to walk even that far on her own, but he wasn't going to let her be on her own.

As the TARDIS entered the time vortex, the Doctor led her further into the TARDIS interior. As they approached her room, she quietly and listlessly spoke, "I'm gonna lie down for a bit."

The Doctor however just kept pulling her further down the hall, until they entered a room that looked to be an outdoor garden. "Doctor," she started, but he cut her off.

"Not this time," the Doctor said softly. "You're overflowing with emotions again, and this time most of them are your own, and rather dark at that. I'm not letting you deal with that all alone."

Rose stared at him in slight surprise. She didn't think he was the type to talk about feelings, but rather bottle them up inside. She was even more surprised as he led her over to a stone bench next to a small stream.

As they sat together on the bench, the Doctor looked sideways at his companion, swearing to himself that he will do whatever he can to help her. "Rose," he began, but halted, trying to find a way to say what he wanted without troubling her further. "I can help you if you want. I can help you and teach you to control your empathy so that it doesn't control you."

"H-how?" she asked, her voice breaking as her eyes widened slightly in concern.

"I can't turn it off, like flipping a switch. You wouldn't be you if I could do that. But for the time being, I can dampen your feelings so they don't overpower you, and eventually teach you how to do so on your own. They will still be there, you'll still have to deal with them, but they won't be quite so… intense."

"What do you need me to do?" she asked, a surprising look of complete trust on her face.

"Just face me, try to relax, and close your eyes." As she did so, he placed two fingers on each of her temples, and quietly slipped into her mind. He was immediately bombarded by a powerful wave of love and gratitude. Not love in a romantic sense, but that one has for a mentor and close friend. He realized that she really truly appreciated what he was trying to do for her, as well as the opportunity to be his companion. He was humbled by her respect, thanks, and caring, and then he got to work on easing the pain that was growing from the center of her mind.

 **.oOo.**

Jack headed off towards the kitchen, jokingly asking if he could turn Margret the egg into an omelet, as the Doctor led Rose back to the garden for another lesson in taming her mind and emotions.

After a few hours of practice, the Doctor handed her a purple leather wallet. She opened it to find psychic paper just like his and she looked up at him in surprise.

"It's slightly different from mine. If you don't focus on something you want it to say, it will show a color and word or phrase reflective of your strongest emotion at the moment."

At that very moment, she noticed the color of the paper turn light blue with white letters saying, " _surprised amazement_ " and she grinned at him.

"If it shows you just regular blank paper, that means your defenses are at full. Also, if you really concentrate, it will show snippets of your memory, sort of like a programmable looping photograph," he grinned at her.

She smiled that tongue in teeth smile at him and then focused intently on the paper, after a few moments, it showed her in a basement, the Doctor grabbing her hand when he told her to run, and ran they did.

Rose looked back up at him with a brilliant smile. "Thank you, Doctor! It's wonderful!" She stood and gave him a grateful hug which he returned before stepping back.

"Maybe you can use it to show your mum some of the things you've done and places you've seen, might prevent her from slapping me a whopper again," he said as he jokingly rubbed his cheek at the memory.

Rose laughed merrily with him as they walked back to the console room, preparing to take Margret the egg to the hatchery.

 **.oOo.**

Rose was running, not from or to anything, just running, with tears stinging her eyes the whole way. She couldn't stay in the chippy, her mind was on the verge of exploding from the vast fear that was rampaging through her. Her best friend in the whole universe was stuck two-hundred-thousand years in the future in the middle of a Dalek invasion, and she was stuck at home, unable to fly the TARDIS back to rescue him.

She finally stopped at a run-down playground to catch her breath, her legs and lungs burning, as she broke down on a park bench. She was rather surprised when Micky showed up a few minutes later, standing in front of her, trying to encourage her to move on with her own life. She looked up to argue with him when something caught her eyes, making them go wide. There on the pavement, written in big chalk letters, the same two words that seemed to have been following her and the Doctor almost everywhere they went.

Bad Wolf.

Looking further, she saw the same words, repeatedly graffitied all over the low brick wall along the side of the play park. That's when she noticed a petite young woman with shoulder length dark brown hair sitting, her legs dangling from the wall. She was twirling a piece of chalk between her fingers and looking right at Rose. Micky made a sudden noise of surprise, pulling her attention away from the young brunette. When she followed his gaze, she saw the pocket of her hoodie had light pouring out of it. Reaching in, Rose pulled out the psychic paper the Doctor had given her. Now it was pitch black, with brilliantly glowing golden letters spelling out Bad Wolf!

Rose gasped as she recognized the color of the words. She had seen such a golden colored light before, just once before. She looked back up at Micky who was staring open-mouthed at the paper in her hand, and she grinned at him. "I can save him, Micky!" And with a cry of hope, she ran back to the TARDIS as fast as her legs would take her. The moment she reached the center console and flashed the psychic paper at the time rotor, the doors slammed shut, the panel on the console opened, golden light streamed into Rose, and the engines started with that wonderful wheezing and groaning.

By the time that Micky was a block away he could hear the engines and see the TARDIS dissolve from view. He was both very sad, and very proud. Sad that he might never see his friend again, but proud that she was fighting for the life she loved and for the life of her friend.

 **.oOo.**


	2. Chapter 2: Bad Wolf

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** Sorry if this chapter seems a bit familiar. This chapter is one of the ones I was quite unhappy with in the beginning. I ended up bringing over a lot directly from Journey for this, as I think the emotional connection displayed in those extra pages is far more interesting than the two piddly little paragraphs that they replaced. Hope you all enjoy. Please read and review. 3

 ** _Chapter 2: Bad Wolf_**

The part of her that was Rose marveled at the things she saw while flying through the time vortex, so many histories across time and space. But for now, she was only focused on one. The Doctor. The TARDIS was in agreement with her on that, the two-consciousness' making the one Bad Wolf… but there was another trying to talk with them as well. It was like a whisper to their minds as they began to merge.

" _Let me join you,_ " it whispered to them.

The part of her called Rose was surprised to feel a flicker of fear from the TARDIS.

" _Yes, I am the Moment, the weapon the Doctor plans, planned, is planning to use to destroy his world and the Daleks with it. Let me join with you and together we can give him an option that doesn't involve burning his home and people. The Doctor needs more than rescue and you know this. This is the chance to give him the help and support he needs. Let me join in your being, and I will deal with the Daleks and the Time War while you focus on other events to help the Doctor._ "

Rose wept in hope at the possibility of being able to give the Doctor back his home and people and possibly so much more. All she ever wanted to do for him, deep down, was to help him heal and find a purpose that would make him want to keep on running. She looked to the light of the TARDIS in this space between seconds and nodded.

 **.oOo.**

The Doctor looked up at the image of the Dalek Emperor that thought it was a god. He knew he was about to die, and he realized that he was really going to miss his pink and yellow companion that had become such a close friend. But at least she was safe.

"Maybe it's time," he said as he closed his eyes to prepare for what was to come. So many things went through his mind, and he could even feel the TARDIS reaching out through time to soothe his passing, that beautiful wheezing and groaning sound building in his head.

"ALERT!" A Dalek screeched. "TARDIS MATERIALIZING!"

The Doctor's eyes shot open in the realization that the sound wasn't in his head and he whipped around to see his magnificent time ship solidifying into existence from where he sent it away. When it was fully back in reality, the doors swung up revealing a brilliant light. There in the door, enveloped in a mist of golden energy, was Rose Tyler! She took a step forward and vanished, reappearing directly in front of him. " _What the hell happened?!_ "

He stumbled to the floor in surprise and fear for his friend. "What have you done?!"

In a strangely echoing voice, she responded. "I looked into the TARDIS… and the TARDIS looked into me."

"You looked into the time vortex! Rose, no one's meant to see that!" He hadn't even realized the Daleks were talking until he saw her eyes flare with golden light and her hand sprang up to catch and reverse a Dalek extermination beam. His eyes widened in surprise a he looked back and saw the beam disappear back into the Dalek and looked back to Rose in shock.

"I am the Bad Wolf," she said. "I create myself. I take the words… I scatter them… in time and space. A message… to lead myself here."

 **.oOo.**

Bad Wolf was surrounded by a nimbus of golden energy. She let the Moment part of her deal with the Daleks and the Time War, she had very little time to accomplish so many things. She looked out through the time winds for all the most important things in the Doctor's lives, and reached out with a golden filament of energy to fix all she could without creating universe-destroying paradoxes. This part of Bad Wolf was scouring through the time vortex specifically for instances where the Doctor needed saving for one reason or another. It came as quite a surprise to her when she found someone else doing exactly that from within the Doctor's timestream itself.

Deciding to investigate further, Bad Wolf jumped into the time stream directly from within the vortex and found only chaos, with a young woman attempting to make sense of and repair the chaos. She scanned up and down the timestream until she knew exactly how this young woman came to be within it, and the Rose part of her wept for Clara Oswald. That this brilliant and amazing young woman would sacrifice herself to save the Doctor not only from a sinister threat, but also from himself, touched her so deeply, that she had to do anything she could to help this impossible girl.

Bad Wolf began to glow with vibrant golden energy, calling upon whatever power she could access to help her. She then called upon ancient knowledge she learned of from another part of herself, and the golden energy around her began to swirl with a bright purple energy as well. When it was done, she stood within a small pocket dimension created within the Doctor's time stream. It wasn't a real place, and it wouldn't last as it was a creation of abstract thought, but it would suffice.

With a deep breath, she raised her arms up, pointing her palms up into the blackness, and millions of tiny gold and purple orbs of energy shot out from her hands and to various points within the time stream. One of these orbs appeared within the shell of a Dalek, and absorbed into its mind, appearing within a psychological space, similar to the abstract she created moments ago, and took the form of Bad Wolf, appearing before a screen that showed the Doctor running from a room.

"Who are you?" a slightly panicked voice said from behind her, causing Bad Wolf to spin around suddenly. "How did you get in here?" asked the brunette form of the young woman she was here for.

Bad Wolf smiled softly at her. "Hello, Oswin. I'm here to take you home."

 **.oOo.**

After an eternity of instants that felt like forever, Clara opened her eyes to see a blonde girl smiling down at her. That she had glowing golden eyes frightened her and caused her to shoot to her feet in shock and back away. The blonde girl looked hurt by this, but tried to hide it, so Clara decided to speak. "Where am I?"

Bad Wolf didn't know why Clara's startled reaction stung her so, but she tried to push it aside, and noticed the red glow from Clara's eyes begin to fade. Closing her own eyes to fade her own glow, Bad Wolf brought the Rose part of her to the surface.

"It's okay, Clara," Rose began. "You are still within the Doctor's time stream. I created this place to put the pieces of you back together. The process it not complete, though. You might say you're still cooking. It will take a long time to complete your healing and transformation, but since time has no meaning here, we have plenty of it."

"Hang on, wait. What? What?!" Clara said as she tried to absorb what she was just told. Before she could say anymore, however, several little balls of golden light shot at her from the darkness and absorbed into her skin, causing her to gasp as new memories came to her mind.

"I know it must be rather confusing for you right now," Rose started. "But I promise, you are safe here."

Clara's eyes suddenly went wide as saucers as recognition settled in her mind. "Rose?!"

This time it was Rose's turn to look shocked. "The Doctor told you about me?"

"What Doctor?" Clara asked, before deciding it didn't matter at the moment. "No. You're a few years older than I am. You used to chase the mean girls away from the park when I was little. You even got my book back from them when they took it from me."

Rose smiled at the memory. "I had no idea that was you."

"I always admired you for the way you stood up to them," Clara said with a faint pink coloring creeping into her cheeks. Before any more could be said, several more balls of light shot at her, causing her to gasp again. "I remember the Doctor! And jumping into his time stream!"

Rose nodded at her. "As I said, it will take a while for this to complete, but you will get all your memories back, and then some." With a wave of her hand, a sofa appeared and Rose sat down at one end of it, leaving plenty of space for Clara. "Might as well make ourselves comfortable."

 **.oOo.**

Many lifetimes later found Clara unconscious on the sofa with her head in Rose's lap as Rose ran her fingers gently through the distraught girl's hair while softly humming a soothing tune. It broke her heart to see Clara break down as she had and to see the dried tear streaks across her pretty face, but she knew not all of the memories or lives being restored would be pleasant ones. As Clara began to stir, Rose continued gently stroking her hair and humming softly, trying to instill a sense of peace and safety.

"How could I have not known I'd become a Dalek?" Clara asked with a hint of misery in her voice.

"Because you weren't," Rose responded simply, still in a soft voice.

Clara shot up and sprang away from Rose. "I'm a MONSTER!" she cried hysterically while looking around frantically for a way out.

Rose jumped up just a quick and pulled the terrified girl into a tight hug, easing her back to the sofa and laying her back down with her head in her lap once again. "Shh shh shh," Rose said soothingly as she resumed stroking Clara's head calmly, not showing any sign of how much it was eating her up inside to see someone so precious in such a state. "You are NOT a monster. You are an amazing girl with a beautiful soul and THAT is why you didn't realize what had happened. They changed your form, Clara, but they couldn't change who you are."

"How can you stand to touch me," Clara cried, "to even be near me?"

"That's easy," Rose said. "The Dalek wasn't you. The Dalek was the prison in which you were kept for a time is all."

Clara turned her head to look up and saw nothing but compassion, acceptance, and unshed tears in Rose's eyes. "You… you really believe that, don't you?"

"KNOW," Rose stated emphatically. "I don't believe it, I KNOW it."

Clara snaked her arms around Rose's waist and held onto her like a lifeline as she cried. In response, Rose pulled her feet up and stretched out on the sofa, next to Clara, holding her tightly to her, and just letting her cry on her shoulder to get it all out. As Clara finally fell into a deep, restful sleep, Rose waved her hand causing a comfortable blanket to appear and settle over them, before setting her own head on the throw pillow and drifting off to sleep herself.

 **.oOo.**

When Rose woke sometime later, she was quite surprised to find things rather reversed, as Clara was the one holding her and humming soothing tunes while stroking her hair.

"Clara?" Rose asked with not a small amount of confusion.

"It's okay, Rose," Clara said. "I'm here. It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"Well, er, that's good I suppose… but what's going on?"

"You don't remember?" Clara asked with some surprise.

"Remember what?" Rose asked with even more confusion.

"It sounded like you were having a nightmare," Clara said with some concern. "You were crying and calling my name and then shouting, 'Take me back' at someone."

"Huh," Rose said unhelpfully.

"You really don't remember?" Clara asked with a hint of something undefinable in her voice. She was worried about the friend she was growing so close to, but there was something else as well.

"Sorry," Rose said with genuine regret, but also enjoying the warmth of someone holding her and wanting to comfort her.

"Well," Clara began, "nothing to be done for it now, I suppose."

"Maybe not," Rose said. "But this is nice," she continued as she squeezed a little hug around Clara from their near cuddled situation on the sofa.

Clara giggled musically and scooted closer so that they could hold and take comfort from each other. They both fell into a light, peaceful doze for some time before waking fully to start anew on putting Clara back together.

 **.oOo.**

With each glowing shard of her soul that Clara absorbed, she remembered more and began to feel closer to complete. The flow of her soul fragments began to slow, however. That meant that she was almost fully put back together. Yet she didn't feel anywhere near being really finished. It was as if something else was missing, far bigger than fragments of her soul that she had been absorbing.

It had been a while now, and it seemed as if the flow of fragments had stopped, so she was surprised when another came flying at her at high speed and flew into her, directly between her breasts. She gasped as a vivid memory flooded her mind, and tears sprang to her eyes, but so did a smile.

"What is it?" Rose asked, curious what could bring both tears and a smile to her friend's face at the same time.

"I remember the rest of the day at the park," Clara told her.

"Oh?" Rose asked. She remembered getting a book back for her from some bullies, but her own memories that far back were a little fuzzy, especially with her own self being rather split and with the time vortex still running through her.

"I wish I could show it to you," the brunette said in a soft voice.

"You can," Rose said. "I'll demonstrate by giving you a memory of how to do this." She then lifted her hand, palm up, and formed a marble-sized ball of brilliant golden energy. Clara stared at the ball of energy in awe that her friend could do that. Rose then raised her hand to the side of Clara's face, and gently pressed the little ball of energy into her temple, causing Clara's eyes to go wide as the memory and knowledge unfolded in her mind.

Rather than verbally respond, Clara lifted her own palm as Rose removed her hand from her temple, and began to form a little ball of energy of her own. When she was finished concentrating, Clara had a bright red marble of energy in her hand, and she pressed it to her friend's temple to give her a copy of the memory.

 **.oOo.**

Rose was back in the park near the estate enjoying a lovely spring day after school on the swings. Her eyes were closed so she could have her face turned up to the warmth of the sun. They snapped open a minute later however when she heard a girl trying hard not to cry as she demanded someone give her back a book.

Looking around, she saw a girl a few years younger than herself standing next to a tree with three other girls, maybe a year or two older surrounding her, tossing a book back and forth between themselves.

"Give me back my book!" the younger girl yelled at them, causing them to laugh at her.

"Aww. Does the little dweeb want her book back?" one of the girls said, causing the other two with her to laugh harder.

"Maybe we should go throw it in the river," one of the other girls suggested.

Rose had heard enough. She might only be a few years older than them, but at her age, a few years was enough for her to be significantly bigger than them. She hopped off the swing and quietly walked up behind the taunting girls where the middle one was holding the book up over her head out of the other girl's reach. Now that she was closer, she recognized one of the girls as a bully wannabe.

Rose reached out and carefully snatched the book from the middle girl's hand, causing her to whip around in surprise and her two cronies to follow suit a moment later.

"Hey," the middle girl said in surprise. "Give that back!"

"Oh," Rose countered. "Not fun when someone else takes something from you, is it?"

"What would you know about it, tramp?" the middle girl said.

SMACK!

The middle girl recoiled from where Rose had slapped her across the face.

"Didn't you ever learn not to be cruel to other people? Someday, they might have a chance to be cruel to you ya' know." Rose started. "Now get out of here before I tell your mum that you were bullying a girl younger than you."

The three girls ran out of there as fast as they could, none of them having been struck before and the one girl not wanting a repeat of it.

When Rose turned back to the younger girl, she saw her staring at her with her jaw hanging open and a look of awe on her face. "I think this is yours," Rose said as she handed the book to her. The young girl took it and stuffed it in her backpack.

"Thank you," she said to Rose in a small voice. "Won't you get in trouble for slapping her though?"

"I don't care," Rose replied honestly. "It was the right thing to do. They were being mean to you. Maybe now they won't be so mean."

The girl continued to stare at her in awe before Rose grabbed her hand, sending a pleasant shiver through her. "Come on," Rose said as she started dragging the girl towards the swings. "Forget about them, let's just have some fun."

As the memory faded Clara's face came back into view. Rose smiled at her, holding out her hand to shake. "It's a pleasure to properly meet you, Clara Oswald."

Clara smiled back at her while shaking her hand. "Likewise, Rose Tyler."

 **.oOo.**

It seemed like years passed by until the last soul fragment shot out of the darkness and absorbed into Clara. Her eyes glassed over for a moment, before she focused and saw Rose looking sad.

"What's wrong?" she asked Rose.

"That was the last soul piece," Rose replied with the sadness evident in her voice. She had grown quite close to Clara and would be sorry to be parted from her. She wished they could stay there forever, but knew that the timelines needed to be maintained.

"But… I still feel like something's missing," Clara told her with a bit of sadness in her own voice.

"That is likely just your trying to adjust to being stitched back together, so to speak," Rose responded. "Or it might also be the unfamiliarity of the extra bits that got added in."

"Extra bits?" Clara asked, her voice changing instantly to alarmed.

"Well," Rose began, "you did throw yourself into the winds of time to save the Doctor. You didn't really think you'd survive that, did you?"

"If I didn't survive, then what was all this for?" Clara asked as she began to break down thinking she was about to die.

Rose scooped her up and held her in a tight hug. "Clara, it's okay, I promise. That just came out wrong," she told her. "In order for you to survive all this, you needed to be changed a little, augmented in a way."

Clara took a deep breath to calm herself and took comfort from the scent of vanilla and berries that Rose's hair smelled of as she returned the hug. "Okay," she said as she stepped out of the hug a moment later. "What sort of changes?"

"You're still mostly human," Rose said. "But you're also part Ancient now."

"They were kind of like Time Lords you said, right?" Clara asked as she placed a hand on her chest and felt only one heart.

"Sort of," Rose confirmed. "They were telepathic but in a different way than Time Lords, and also empathic. They also had a different type of regeneration."

Clara's eyes went really wide at that and Rose nodded.

"Yes," Rose said, "You can regenerate. But you will be able to choose whatever form you want to regenerate into. So, if you want to keep this form, you can. And the only thing that can prevent you from regenerating, is your conscious desire not to. So, if you get to be so old that you don't want to keep going for whatever reason, you can just choose not to regenerate."

"What am I supposed to say to something like that?" Clara asked after a moment of her mouth gaping open and closed like a fish.

Rose laughed musically, but with a slight hint of sadness as she spoke. "You don't have to say anything," she told Clara as she stepped away and began to glow bright gold.

"What's happening?" Clara asked as she herself started to glow with a red energy.

"Our time here is up," Rose said in a dual-toned voice as she merged to fully become Bad Wolf again.

"But…" was all Clara could say. She didn't know what else to say really.

"This is not the end of the Bad Wolf," she said, again in that musical, dual-toned voice. "We will see you again, my Impossible Girl."

There were only a few more moments before the Doctor would find the abstract space, so she had to act quickly. Bad Wolf reached out again and pulled someone else into the space she created, while at the same time touching a computer interface to give it a moment of greater processing power to save another four-thousand-twenty-two lost souls.

In another flash of golden light, Professor River Song appeared in the abstract. After looking around, River spoke up. "Rose? Clara? What's going on?"

"I am the Bad Wolf." River gaped at her, having never expected to meet her. "The Impossible Girl has just saved the Doctors' Lives. Now I am saving his hearts and his soul." She reached over to touch the wrist where River's older vortex manipulator was under her space suit, and a puff of golden smoke disappeared into it. "I have left you a message on there for later. You must NOT let the Doctor see it until after your task is complete."

River nodded in understanding. The life of a time traveler could be so complicated sometimes.

Bad Wolf stepped in front of Clara smiling softly and pulled her into a surprise hug, the golden glow encompassing them both as she whispered to her. "Clara Oswald, the Impossible Girl. You were born to save the Doctor, but your story is not over. You are not the only one born to save the Doctor. I created myself for that very purpose. Now, thanks to you doing most of it, I was able to do so much more as well. I need for you to remember something. It is so very important that you do. Remember that the raven is not the end. Tell them only that you are a piece of the hybrid, and that's why you need to go back. And most of all, I need you to remember that when she takes your hand and tells you to run, run with her!"

As she took a step back, she gave Clara a peck on the cheek and the golden aura flowed back to Bad Wolf as the red around Clara flared purple, cementing the changes to her being.

Not a second later the Doctor's voice rang out from behind them. "W-what?!" he spluttered while looking from Clara to Rose to River and back again in extreme confusion. Clara launched herself at him for a hug while the other two turned to look at him.

Bad Wolf smiled at them, gave a cheeky wave, and disappeared in a flash of golden light again.

 **.oOo.**

"Rose," the golden energy said as the minds and energies started to separate, "the Doctor is about to separate us but I have locked a sliver of power within since we modified your core being. I'm also locking away some memories. When the time comes, choose the clone, you'll know when that time is. Choose the clone and the memories will unlock as the TARDIS departs."

All of a sudden Rose was in the Doctor's arms looking up into his glowing eyes, and then darkness enveloped her.

 **.oOo.**

Rose had woken up a few minutes ago on the floor of the TARDIS. The Doctor was rambling on and acting stranger than usual when he doubled over in pain.

"Doctor!" she called out as she ran over to him.

"Stay away!" he told her, and some new memories slid into her consciousness.

"You're regenerating, aren't you?"

He looked up at her sharply. "How do you know about that?"

"It just sort of… popped into my mind. I think it's a left-over memory from while I was unconscious."

The Doctor looked at her strangely for a moment, before breaking into a manic grin. "Well, that's fantastic! Then this shouldn't scare you too badly." And with that, he seemed to explode in a fire of yellow and gold energy.

A moment later the energy faded and a new man was standing there in the Doctor's clothes.

"Hello! Okay… oh. New teeth. That's weird. So, where was I?"

 **.oOo.**


	3. Chapter 3: Aftermath

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 ** _Chapter 3: Aftermath_**

Cassandra had just trapped Rose inside some machine and used it to _possess_ her. That was the only way she could describe it. She could apparently also sense her thoughts as well because she knew Rose was here with the Doctor.

" _Well, she's not getting any more information from me!_ " Rose thought viciously. She put all her mind training from the Doctor into practice to block Cassandra out, and suddenly it was like Rose's mind was encased in a bubble of gold and purple energy. Something niggled at the back of her mind, like a memory trying to break free.

 **.oOo.**

Rose was trying to reason with the alien in the cage when it lunged to get a better look at her. "Look, inside your eyes, you've seen it too."

Roses eyes flared for just a second, one purple and the other golden, before returning to their normal honey brown. She raised her mind shield like the Doctor taught her fearing that it was trying to get inside her like Cassandra had.

"Seen what?"

"The wolf! There is something of the wolf about you."

She felt another tickle in her mind, from within it, but couldn't place it. "I don't know what you mean."

"You burnt like the sun but all I require is the mooooooon," he said in a low and frankly creepy voice.

 **.oOo.**

They had just crashed and were getting themselves up off the floor. Micky seemed to be ok, but the Doctor was walking around the dark console.

"The last TARDIS in the universe… extinct," the Doctor said in shock and disbelief.

Rose felt another niggle from within her mind but this time a memory did break free and slid into place in her mind. " _A sliver of power,_ " Bad Wolf had told her. Instinctively, when neither the Doctor nor Micky were looking her way, she reached up and touched the dark time rotor. In the space of a second, a small bolt of golden energy, almost the size of a firefly, sprang from the palm of her hand, into the time rotor, and sank into the console. Somehow, she knew that Bad Wolf had just saved them again.

 **.oOo.**

Rose helped Toby get up after the… thing, passed out of him. Or at least after the markings disappeared from his skin. As she grabbed him to help him up, she felt nothing but cold blackness. She would have expected to feel relief from him that the thing possessing him seemed to be gone, but all she felt was that dark coldness that sent a shiver down her spine. She did not trust him.

 **.oOo.**

She was standing on the beach, Bad Wolf Bay it translated to. She wasn't quite sure how she knew that since she was in a different universe from the TARDIS, but she knew. A niggle from within her mind told her there was something she was forgetting, and then the memory slotted into place again. No, it was definitely not a coincidence that this was called Bad Wolf Bay.

Looking around, she saw a hologram of the Doctor appear, and she tried her best to fight back the tears. Talking to him as he tried to say goodbye was breaking her heart. She had to tell him what she remembered now, they were almost out of time.

"No, Doctor, not on your own," she said to him after he said he was going to try to get back to his life on the TARDIS. "Remember what the most important thing is when traveling the universe? You need a hand to hold. You taught me that," she said as she broke down in tears.

He looked at her sadly and opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off.

"You find someone, Doctor. You find someone and RUN! I don't know how long it will be until we see each other again, but It's likely to be a while, so you find someone. I don't want my best friend in the in the whole universe to go running off alone," she forced out through her tears.

He looked like he wanted to believe her, but he knew it was impossible. "The walls between the universes are sealing. I won't ever be able to come back," he told her with a tear rolling down his own cheek.

She couldn't help but chuckle and smile slightly through her tears at how wrong he was. "I'm standing on the beach of Bad Wolf Bay, Doctor. You told me the TARDIS could never return for you, and Bad Wolf screamed 'never say never' at you."

She looked directly at him then, and for a moment he thought he saw her eyes flash, but it was hard to tell with the hologram image.

"Rose Tyler…" he started and then disappeared.

 **.oOo.**

Rose looked sadly at her friend dying in the middle of the road. She knew it would be undone, but that didn't make it any easier to watch her friend die. She leaned down to whisper to her.

"Tell him this… two words. Bad Wolf."

She watched as Donna looked up at her in recognition, and then her eyes slid shut. With a flash of white light, she was back in her Torchwood. Pete and Jackie were there waiting for her.

"Mission was successful," she started. "The timeline is fixed and the Doctor has been warned."

Jackie walked over to hug her daughter, knowing how difficult this was for her. Pete spoke up.

"Good job. It will take four to five hours to recharge and recalibrate the dimension cannon to make a link to the proper reality again."

"Alright then," Rose said. "I'm going to get a nap in my office."

"I'm going to pick up Tony from the sitter's so we can all give you a proper send of," her mum told her, looking a bit misty-eyed.

Rose nodded and walked down the hall to her office. She left her office door opened a crack in case anyone needed to get her in the event of an emergency, and lay down on the couch, but sleep didn't come easily.

She _knew_ the alternate Donna would remember the warnings as the timelines snapped back together. She just didn't know _how_ she knew that, and that was really bothering her. She pulled a blanket from the back of the couch to wrap around herself and rolled over, something in the back of her mind niggling to get free as she fell into a fitful sleep.

She dreamed of gold and purple lights, of millions of different points in time, many of which she never went to with the Doctor, and of a young woman, petite with shoulder length dark brown hair. She saw the same person over and over, always there to save the Doctor from something unseen. She even saw her back in her own time, just before Rose rushed off to save the Doctor by becoming Bad Wolf.

Rose shot upright on the couch and blinked the sleep from her eyes as she remembered the girl that tried just as hard as she had to save the Doctor, and she was filled with gratitude that someone else was looking out for her best friend as well.

"Who is Clara?" she heard Pete ask and she looked over, startled, as he sat at her desk with Tony sleeping in his arms.

"A dear friend that helped to save the Doctor," she answered quietly so as not to wake her little brother. "How long have I been asleep?"

"A little over seven hours," he replied and saw her eyes widen in panic. "Don't worry. There was an issue with the recalibration that caused a delay. It should be ready to go in another hour."

"What sort of issue?" she asked as she swung her legs off the couch and turned to face him.

"Well, we were able to get a lock on Earth a little earlier than expected, so we just had to wait for the recharge to finish. But then something weird happened. Earth _moved_ , several thousand light years in fact. There seems to be some kind of shield around it now, so we have to store up extra power before we can establish a link with the dimension cannon."

"Huh. Well, I'm going to freshen up a bit and get something to eat before I have to make the jump. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes," she informed him as she left to wash up a little and get some food.

When she returned to her office, Pete had moved to the couch and was rocking a slightly fussy Tony in his arms.

"Here, let me take him for a little while. It might be my last chance to hold him."

And so that was how Jackie found them ten minutes later; Pete sitting comfortably on the couch and Rose slowly walking circles around her office and telling baby Tony stories of the Doctor.

She sat down on the couch near Pete and patted the space between them gesturing to Rose. She, still holding and cooing stories at him, sat down between her parents and let them both hold her, knowing this might be the last chance to be together as a family, and enjoying it as much as she could.

Half an hour later, Micky came in and told them that everything was set.

Rose walked over to him and hugged him with one arm, the other still holding her little brother. She kissed him on the cheek and stepped back. "Will you stay with Tony in here just in case anything goes wrong? I don't want my baby brother to get hurt."

Micky nodded, taking the baby in his arms and smiling sadly at his ex-girlfriend. "I'm going to miss you."

Rose smiled just as sadly at him. "I'll miss you too Micky. You've been a wonderful friend since we were little." She kissed him on the cheek again and walked out of her office, trying to keep her emotions in check.

When she reached the workshop at the end of the hall, she checked over the equipment and then turned back to her parents. She had unshed tears in her eyes, and finally, she pulled her dad in for a tight hug.

"You take care of them, Dad."

"I will."

She released him only to pull her mother into a crushing hug as well, finally letting the tears leak from her eyes. "Don't follow me, Mum. I don't know how safe it is over there right now. Just stay here and stay safe, for me. Please."

Jackie seemed to nod before pulling back with tears in her own eyes and placing a hand on her daughter's cheek. "You be careful, sweetheart. And you tell that Doctor that if he lets anything happen to you I'll reach across that void and slap him into a new face!"

Rose wiped her eyes and chuckled. " _Same ol' Mum._ " She walked over to a rack of weapons and pulled one, just to be safe. It was a model that was developed while the cybermen had still been around. It was able to blow ten of their heads clean off if they were all lined up. She put the strap over her shoulder and walked over to the transport pad.

Looking up at her parents, she winked at them. "Wish me luck." That was the signal to activate the dimension cannon, and her parents both nodded to her, unable to actually say the words. In a flash of light, she was gone.

When she reappeared on a street in outer London, she saw a milkman staring at her in shock. " _Wait a minute. A milkman? But it looks like the middle of the night._ " And then she looked up, only to see a bunch of planets in the sky.

"Right. Now we're in trouble," she said to herself, priming her weapon just in case. "And it's only just beginning."

 **.oOo.**

Rose looked between the Doctor and his clone. She was back on the beach of Bad Wolf Bay in the parallel universe again. She was terrified that she was going to lose her best friend again, but something still told her that the journey doesn't end here. There was something she was supposed to be remembering but she didn't know what after all the chaos of the planets and Daleks. She looked to the clone after her Doctor choked up and wouldn't answer.

"And you, Doctor? What was the end of that sentence?"

The clone leaned in to whisper something in her ear. "I don't know all that Bad Wolf did, but you might she had a… hand in my creation and a message was planted in my mind when I grew out of that hand. Remember that you need to stay here until the TARDIS leaves, so just give me a hug goodbye."

And so, she did. She felt bad about him being stuck in this universe if she was actually going to get a chance to leave. But she couldn't adapt to this version of the universe like her mum could. This world wasn't right and this Doctor wasn't right, but she still felt for him and so she poured a load of caring and positive emotions into that hug. It still felt wrong, but she wasn't going to tell him that.

When she heard the TARDIS dematerializing, she broke away from the clone with a gasp and spun around in fear. If she was supposed to wait for the TARDIS to leave, how was she going to get back?

She looked back to the clone hoping he might have some answers, but before she could ask, she heard her mother gasp in shock. She looked to her mother, but Jackie could only say one thing.

"Your eyes!"

Rose looked back to the clone and he explained. "One gold, one purple. The gold I can understand if this is something to do with Bad Wolf, but the purple mystifies me."

All of a sudden, her vision clouded over a bit, and she noticed a mist of bright golden energy surrounding her, and her eyes widened in shock as the block on all her memories shattered and they all came flooding back. Everything she did while part of Bad Wolf came back to her in a rush. The destruction of the Daleks, the merging with the Moment, the Impossible Girl, saving the Doctor's wife, the accidental immortality granted to Jack, the modifications she made to herself and Clara, the infinite number of regenerations she gave to the Doctor and River, the paradox of the Bad Wolf merging with the Moment to allow the Doctors and Clara through the time lock so that Clara's presence could nudge the Moment in the direction of Bad Wolf, the extra sliver of power from Bad Wolf that she will use to extend the life of the clone, the subtle nudges she had to make for Jack to get the Doctor's severed hand back to him, the memories she implanted into the nerve structures of that hand, and all the things she still had to do when she gets back home.

The memories were a shock, but the feelings that came with them _hurt_! So many different emotions at once. Her love and affection for the Doctor, her strange attraction to the girl who sacrificed so much by dying so many times to save her best friend, her joy at the Doctor finally finding love again and marrying, her sorrow over everything that happened with Jack, her anger about the year that never was that she could do nothing to prevent even as Bad Wolf, so many feelings that all swept through her like a set of tidal waves pulling her in so many different directions at the same time.

She didn't know when the glowing golden aura disappeared, or when she sank to her knees in the sand, but as she regained awareness of her surroundings, Rose realized that she had tears streaming down her face and her mother was holding her, telling her everything will be alright.

Rose stood, helping her mother to her feet, and threw her arms around her mother one last time. "I love you, Mum. I haven't got time to explain. The Doctor will explain what he can to you." She then pressed her finger to her mother's temple where the tip glowed golden for less than a second.

She let go of her mother and proceeded to hug the clone of the Doctor next. "I am so, so sorry that I can't help you the way I did before. But I know you'll be okay. Find this world's Donna. She's around. We looked her up at Torchwood when we realized she was the key to saving all the universes."

As she stepped back, she placed one hand on the side of his head and the other over his singular heart. They both glowed golden for a moment causing the clone to gasp in surprise as he felt new memories slotting into place in his mind.

"Please, Doctor, don't go off on your own. Help Torchwood defend the planet while you wait for the new TARDIS to grow and find Donna and explain Bad Wolf to Mum with the extra memories I just gave you."

She gave her mother one last quick hug and then took a step backward. "I love you, Mum. Tell Dad and Tony that I love them too and make sure you tell Tony stories about his big sister!"

Rose took another step backward, and the aura of golden light sprang to life around her again. Another step backward and she faded, looking like a ghost. One final step and she was gone.

Jackie gasped in shock and then in surprise as she realized a new memory was appearing in her mind. "She made it. I don't know how I can remember two different versions of the same New Year's Eve, but I know she was at a party with Micky, and now I also know she was with me!"

"I think we have a long conversation coming up, Jackie," the clone said with a grin. His new memories unfolded immediately so he wanted her to understand just how magnificent her daughter was, and will be.

 **.oOo.**


	4. Chapter 4: Mopping Up Part One

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** Sorry for the long delay in posting chapter 3. Life once again makes things difficult and trying to cope is hard sometimes, so not the best frame of mind for a story like this. To make up for it, and also for the fact that future updates are also likely to be far between, here is a bonus, Chapter 4! Hope you all enjoy.

 ** _Chapter 4: Mopping Up Part One_**

Clara was stepping out of the door with a fear-induced adrenalin high. She remembered just moments ago what the Bad Wolf had told her after rescuing her scattered pieces from the Doctor's time stream. " _Why would she lie about that?_ " Clara thought to herself. She saw the whole of the Doctor's past, she knew who Rose was, even felt something of a kinship with her and their shared desire to save the Doctor. She also knew that Rose was the primary outward personality of the Bad Wolf, an interpretive interface so to speak. From what Clara saw of Rose in the time stream, she was such a kind and caring young woman, someone to be loved and admired, not feared and regretted.

As she stepped out into the street and away from the house, she realized why she was afraid. There had been almost no mention of the Bad Wolf since before "Chinny's" time. She had been abandon and forgotten. " _That's why I'm afraid. I held out hope for so long that maybe there would be something wonderful, but now I only have death in front of me. Well I'm at least going to face it with some dignity and not like a weeping broken little girl!_ "

As she took her lest stop out into the middle of the street, she started whispering to herself. "Let me be brave… let me be brave."

She saw the raven flying towards her through the street. " _I would have liked the chance to feel that wonderful again,_ " she thought to herself as she reached her hand up to touch a memory on her cheek from shortly after her shards had been sown back together. She then held both her arms straight out away from her and closed her eyes. "Let me be brave."

Suddenly, there was a cracking sound, similar to a lightning strike not too far away, and then a loud and annoying ringing in her ears. She opened her eyes in confusion, and was shocked to see the raven just inches in front of her! " _What the HELL is going on?!_ " she screamed in her mind. And then, she was filled with hope and anticipation as the words Bad Wolf said came back to her. She looked down at the raven and was no longer afraid, knowing it was not the end.

White light spilled out from an opening door to her left and the Doctor was there!

"This way!" he told her urgently. "I can save you!"

Clara looked back to the raven, and then back to the version of the Doctor that was standing in the doorway of the house she just came out of. Both seemed to be frozen. She turned back to the Doctor that spoke to her and entered the door he had leaned out of, and the world around her suddenly seemed to shift into clearer focus.

 **.oOo.**

Rose looked up from where she appeared. It looked like an old street from around the time she met Charles Dickens. But more importantly nothing was moving, at all! She could see a future version of the Doctor turned away from her in a doorway, looking at a similarly frozen raven that appeared to be stopped mid-flight.

" _Of course! The extraction chamber has already pulled her out. But Bad Wolf and Time Locks are like the Doctor's sonic versus a padlock._ "

Rose took a moment to look around more carefully. She knew she couldn't be seen yet by the Doctor until later in his time line. She decided that the best place to stay out of the way of anyone was to stand just around the corner behind the Doctor. She just barely peeked out around the corner until she saw a shoe and leg appear in the brightly lit doorway near the raven, and jumped back behind the corner of the house to avoid being seen yet.

 **.oOo.**

Clara couldn't really follow the back and forth bickering between the Doctor and the bald guy. She was overwhelmed with hope that she hadn't been abandon after all! " _It's all happening just like Bad Wolf said! They asked about the hybrid!_ " But before Clara could think any more on that, the Doctor punched the bald guy and was now pointing a weapon at him!

" _NO! The Doctor is losing it! He has to keep it together. I can't let him fall apart now!_ "

"If you tried to change that, you could fracture time itself," the bald guy, now revealed as a general, said. "Doctor, Lord President, are you really going to take that risk?"

"Doctor," Clara spoke in a small, scared voice, hoping that might help get her point across. She slowly reached for and took his hand in hers. "Please… I don't want this. Put it down, please."

"Regeneration?" the Doctor asked of the general.

The general stepped back, looking resigned as he answered. "Tenth."

"Good luck," the Doctor said simply.

"NO!" Clara shouted as she jumped in front of the Doctor so the gun was now pointing directly at the tip of her nose, causing her to go slightly cross-eyed looking at it.

The Doctor was surprised to see her suddenly in front of him. "Clara, get out of the way."

"No, Doctor. I won't let you do this. _I_ am part of the hybrid and that's why I have to go back."

Near total silence filled the room, save for the beeping of one of the controls indicating an anomaly within the chamber's time lock. The general looked at her in shock, the other staff had no idea what was really going on, and the Doctor stared at her with a look that was a mix of confusion and a little bit of anger wondering what the hell she was playing at.

Clara did the only thing she could think of to calm him. She smiled and winked at him.

And for just a second… the Doctor thought he saw a flicker of deep red fire in the Impossible Girl's eyes. His eyes widened a fraction in surprise. Even if that was some special ability of hers, her physical processes were time looped, so that shouldn't be possible. " _Then again, it may have just been a figment of my imagination._ " He lowered his arm and dropped the weapon to the floor where Clara put her foot on it and slid it quickly back towards the general. After she did that the Doctor pulled her to him in a fierce hug.

Clara let out a little squeak of surprise. This Doctor wasn't usually the hugging type.

"Just what the hell are you doing?" he whispered quietly to her.

"I'm not entirely sure myself," she responded just as quietly. "Besides saving you from yourself, I have a strangely good feeling about this. Don't ask me anymore, please."

The Doctor stepped back and stared intently at her for a few moments, before subtly nodding at her.

Clara nodded back and walked out of the chamber through the still open doorway that she came in by, all the way back to the same spot and position she had been, in front of the raven. As the light from the open doorway started to fade, she closed her eyes again. She heard the door seal shut at the same time as a slight tingle made itself known on the back of her neck, right there the tattoo was, and then she felt a terrible searing pain in her almost at the same time the crack of thunder sounded again. She screamed, and barely noticed the raven impact with her.

 **.oOo.**

Rose's heart broke as she heard the blood curdling scream echo through the street just before time started flowing again. She knew that Bad Wolf had succeeded in swapping Clara's soul for that of the Beast from its last moments orbiting the black hole. She peeked an eye around the corner just in time to see the raven disappear into Clara's body, and she let out a similar scream as the smoky form of the raven left her. When it had fully left her, it hovered over the street for a moment, and then exploded in a shower of red, gold, and purple sparks, signifying that Bad Wolf had indeed managed to bring Clara's own soul back to her own body.

Rose thought it a fitting end to the Beast but felt terrible about the pain that Clara had to suffer because of it. She watched the Doctor stare in horror as she fell limply to the street. After a few more moments, he retreated back into the building closing the door behind him. He unfortunately didn't have the luxury of time for mourning. As soon as she was sure the door was closed, Rose rushed over to Clara and scooped her up, carrying her to where Bad Wolf's memory told her the entrance to the street was. She couldn't actually leave the street with what was about to happen however, so she gently lay Clara down just inside the field generated by the misdirection circuit.

It was less than a minute later though that the Impossible Girl seemingly did the impossible again as she burst into vibrant purple energy not unlike that of the Doctor's regeneration. When the purple energy faded, Clara shot to her feet and looked around wildly for the raven she believed was about to attack her.

Clara spun around and saw the Bad Wolf smiling at her and her eyes widened in shock. The smiling woman grabbed her hand.

"RUN!"

And that's exactly what they did. They ran as fast as they could out of the street back into modern London, and all the way back to the TARDIS slamming the doors closed behind them.

As they panted, trying to catch their breath, Rose released Clara's hand and walked over to the central console, patting it gently. "Hello, Dear. I've missed you too," she said with a brilliant smile before turning back to Clara.

"Am I dead?" was the first question to pass the petite brunette's lips and caused Rose to chuckle merrily.

"No, you've regenerated," the blonde responded with a smirk.

"I WHAT?!" Clara shouted in a panic as she felt all over her face and checked her hair and hands. "But I haven't changed?"

"Well according to Bad Wolf, it's a special condition but regeneration is all I have to compare it to so that's what I'm calling it."

Clara's eyes became wide as saucers. "You mean… you're not Bad Wolf?"

Rose walked over to Clara, who hadn't moved from the closed doors. "Nope, not anymore at least. My name's Rose Tyler," she said as she extended her hand to shake. "Pleasure to finally meet you properly, Clara Oswald."

Clara reached out as well, as if on automatic pilot, to shake Rose's hand, when three things happened at once.

Rose shook the confused girl's hand, and felt a spark of… something, from her. She couldn't describe it all, but it was mostly mixed with happy feelings and tint of shyness. Then, a purple aura of energy burst to life around Clara again as a golden one enveloped Rose. The golden energy moved to encompass both girl's left wrists, leaving Rose with an aura of purple energy similar to Clara, and the gold around their wrists faded to reveal identical wrist bands that looked vaguely like vortex manipulators. They actually looked more like a modern-day smartphone strapped to the wrist, but Rose knew it could also function as a manipulator. Lastly, Clara's eyes rolled up in her head and she dropped in a dead feint.

Rose caught her before she could crash completely to the floor and picked her up again, before looking at the time rotor in the middle of the console. "Could you please guide me to her room so I can put her to bed?" Rose asked the TARDIS. "She's going to need to sleep for a day or so."

One of the doors leading to the TARDIS interior slid open with some blinking lights to act as a guide. "Thanks, dear," Rose said as she carried Clara away from the console room.

 **.oOo.**

Two carefully sipped cups of tea and a day and a half later, Rose was sitting in a chair next to Clara's bed reading through a holographic instruction manual built into the manipulator that Bad Wolf had left for her. She had thought Jack's Vortex Manipulator was impressive, but it must have been a base model compared to this very special edition.

This device was apparently custom made by Bad Wolf. It worked just like Jack's, but had a lot of extras. She was just reading through the section about energy/matter conversion and how it related to a pocket dimension full of liquid crystal nanites, when she noticed Clara stirring from her sleep.

"Good morning sleepy head," Rose said cheekily.

Clara's eyes snapped open, and Rose sensed a feeling of shock and surprise, followed by excitement and hope as her gaze landed on Rose, and settling on embarrassment as the waking girl caught herself staring.

"S-sorry… sorry. I didn't mean to stare," Clara said as she looked down at her blanket. "It's just… I had a dream. I was talking to Bad Wolf and she explained what she did to me… to us, and tied some events together for me. Did you… did you really leave your family behind in a parallel world to come back here?"

Rose nodded at her, a slightly sad look on her face. "Yes, I did."

She looked up at Rose again, a mix of sorrow and strangely, guilty pleasure, both rolling off her in waves. "Why?" she couldn't stop herself from asking. "Why would you do that?"

Rose studied her for a few moments as she gathered her thoughts and tried to comprehend the strange mix of emotions coming from her girl that was now sitting up in the bed against a pile of pillows.

"It was… wrong, there," she started. "My mum was able to cope well enough. Had a baby boy with the alternate version of my father, but I never felt right there. Don't get me wrong, I love my family… but that world… it felt like trying to swim through mud against the current, if that makes any sense."

Clara tried to imagine what that would be like and then Rose continued with a happier look on her face. "B'sides, I was missing a very dear friend over here, and I also needed to help save the girl that saved him by sacrificing herself so many times."

Clara smiled shyly at that and tried to ignore the confusing nervousness that was flowing through her. Rose seemed to sense that too and offered up a distraction.

"How about you get ready for a new day, and I'll go make something to eat in the kitchen?"

She smiled in appreciation at that. "Yeah, sounds good."

 **.oOo.**

Rose was sitting at the kitchen table, again reading through the holographic instruction manual and nibbling on a sandwich from the plate of several she set in the middle of the table when she noticed Clara walking into the room. She turned off the holo-projector and looked up as she walked over towards the table.

Clara was dressed simply in low black heels and tights with a dark green pencil skirt and a short sleeved black blouse and slightly damp hair. She smiled as she sat down across from Rose and gratefully accepted an offered sandwich.

They ate their food in slightly nervous silence as they were each lost in their own thoughts going over everything that happened and what options they may have to come.

Clara was just starting on her second sandwich when she decided to break the silence. "Any ideas as to what we do now?"

Taking a moment to put her thoughts in order, Rose tossed an idea out that had been left in her mind. "Well, Bad Wolf made modifications to us other than our fancy new gadgets and regeneration-like ability. She also ensured that we can literally walk through time. Aside from that, we are also sitting in a time machine."

"Yeah?" Clara asked with a smirk. "So where does that leave us?"

"We have some things to do, people to save and so on, but we also have a lot of learning to do. It's been… suggested, that we take this opportunity to train ourselves in our new abilities and technology."

Clara chuckled at that. "So, we go pick up the Doctor and start training, do we?"

Rose looked sadly back at her. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Clara looked shocked and was about to protest when Rose put up a hand to stop her.

"No, just hear me out. I miss him terribly, but when I was traveling with the Doctor, he was a bit of a control freak. Mostly in an adorable way, but he could get out of hand about it sometimes. Some of the things I saw him do while I was Bad Wolf were completely out of control, especially when he was alone or thought he lost someone. He might just try to put a block on our memories like he did with our friend Donna. Granted he did it so save her life, but still."

Clara nodded in understanding. She just saw the Doctor willing to risk all of time fracturing just to save her! "So, we work on our new mind abilities to be able to protect ourselves before we go get him, yeah?"

Rose smiled at her. "That sounds like a good idea. Let's go to the garden. That's where the Doctor taught me how to protect myself from my empathic abilities. Those teachings should be a good first step."

 **.oOo.**

Two months later found both Clara and Rose nearly even in skill level and a bit advanced of where Rose was when she started teaching Clara. They took plenty of breaks to learn a bit about their vortex manipulators as well and had an okay understanding of them, but both of them were starting to feel a bit of cabin fever building up, even with the vast wonders of the TARDIS at their disposal. They had just finished another lesson in the garden when Clara decided she needed to put a voice the what they were both feeling.

"What do you say we take a short break from training in the TARDIS and go out somewhere?"

"That sounds like a brilliant idea," Rose responded. "How about we go to save a kid, then a friend, and possibly get some extra help with our training as well?"

Clara playfully pouted at her. "I was thinking more like cocktails."

Rose smirked at the girl she was coming to consider a very dear friend. "Would you believe that we can do both?"

"How's that then?"

"Well, I already have my manipulator programmed with the signal it needs to send. We just pop back to where we need, spend about five minutes out of sight while the signal does its work, and then we're off to drinks in the fifty-first century?"

"What? And that's it?" Clara asked in disbelief.

"Well, it's a little more complicated than that," Rose admitted sheepishly. "The kid is a friend's grandson that he would otherwise have to sacrifice to get rid of an invasion of aliens trying to kidnap a good percentage of the Earth's children."

"Seriously?" she asked in shock and disgust.

"Well they need to send the signal _through_ the kid, and don't have the tech available to simulate it," Rose explained. "We, however, do happen to have the tech available to us right here on our wrists."

"Well then," Clara said, perking up, "let's go save them, shall we?"

 **.oOo.**

Jack looked over and saw his grandson, Steven, and wanted to be sick. They had a way to kill the 456 but it would require basically sacrificing a child, and Steven was the only one around. His own grandson, or ten percent of the children on Earth.

His daughter would probably kill him several times just for the consideration of the possibility entering his brain, but that would pale in comparison to how much he hated himself in this very moment, knowing there was no other choice.

He was staring at his grandson, tears welling up in his eyes, hand hover over the button, when a miracle happened. All the monitors on his computers went dead, and the central units exploded in a shower of sparks. Not wanting to take a risk now that he had a brief second chance, he ran to the center of the room and yanked Steven off the transmitter and as far away from all the equipment as he could. He looked through the windows and saw his daughter's relieved look, but he still hated himself.

Suddenly, the remaining speakers and screens that did work picked up the signal being transmitted and he looked down at Steven in horror and panic fearing the worst, but thankfully just finding his face as confused as everyone else in the room.

"Where is that coming from?" a technician asked.

"I don't know, but it's not from here. The transmitter's fried!" another replied.

Jack let his tears flow in thanks, grateful beyond words that he didn't have to sacrifice his grandson. He would never forgive himself for even considering it, but he was so thankful not to have to go through with it.

 **.oOo.**

Rose and Clara were sitting at a table at the back of the bar, wearing some nice cocktail dresses and sipping a second serving of mixed drinks, just talking and getting to know each other a bit more outside of their training and time on the TARDIS. They were both happy to have been able to save Jack's grandson, even if they cut it extremely close. It was nice to be out for a night and having a chance to enjoy themselves.

Two hours in, on only their third round of drinks, they were chatting happily as if they were long lost old friends. Clara was telling a story about the first time the Doctor met one of her splinters at the Dalek asylum. Rose was happy to see her friend more relaxed and noted how her eyes sparkled whenever she laughed.

"So, you actually deleted _all_ records of him making _every_ Dalek forget him?" she asked in surprised amusement.

"Yep! You should have seen his face when he talked about how creepy and yet funny it was to have a few thousand Daleks all chanting 'Doctor Who?' at him."

Rose removed the thin wallet from under her wrist strap revealing her special psychic paper, and handed it to Clara. "Show me?" she asked hopefully.

Clara was caught off guard for a moment by the small and wistful voice Rose asked such a simple question in. She found it rather endearing, but also recognized just how much Rose had missed the Doctor, and how grateful she was that he didn't fly alone very often. She took the paper in her hand and focused intently on it, recalling all of their past two months training, some of it with this very piece of paper. She smiled as the image formed and she handed it over to the friend across from her.

Rose laughed out loud at the look on the Doctor's face in the picture. It lit up her entire face and Clara was a bit happy that she had been the one to make that happen. They continued on like this with their back and forth stories for another twenty minutes until their target walked in, directly to the bar where he ordered a drink and sat on the stool in front of him.

Jack was back in the bar again. The Doctor at set him up with a nice guy named Alonzo last night and disappeared. He had a feeling the Doctor was saying goodbye, so he tried to have a good time with the sweet sailor, but his heart just wasn't in it. He was filled with so much anger and hatred at himself, he thought he didn't deserve to have a good time.

He wondered if there was enough hyper-vodka in the universe to let him drown his misery. He was so wrapped up in his self-loathing, that he hadn't even noticed that the background music system abruptly stopped. He did however notice when it started back up again, this time playing _Moonlight Serenade_.

He allowed himself a very brief smile as he remembered the first time he danced to this tune with the girl that became like a younger sister to him. Oh, how he wished he could be back in those days, just palling around the TARDIS having fun with his friends. At least with Rose he knew he'd be able to open up and not let his feelings destroy him. She wouldn't judge him if he just let it all out and sobbed like a baby on her shoulder for half the night.

Clara approached the man in the long coat already knowing what his answer was going to be, but she wanted to play along to see the look on his face, and to help her friend. When she was behind his stool and a little off to his right, she tapped his shoulder.

"Excuse me. May I have this dance?"

Jack looked over his shoulder and saw a beautiful, young, petite brunette smiling lightly at him. It was a nice offer, but he really wasn't in the mood for dealing with other's right now.

"Sorry, but I'm not really good company right now," he told her as he turned back to his drink.

"I think, Clara," Rose started and she smiled brightly as his head whipped around to look over his other shoulder at the sound of her voice, "that you'll find this dance is most certainly mine."

Jack starred dumbly at his little sister, wondering if he'd had a few too many hyper-vodka's. Rose grabbed his hand and virtually dragged him to an empty space on the floor where she put her arms around him and started to sway to their song.

Clara sat on his vacated bar stool and smiled at her friend. She knew this was going to be a hard reunion for her, mostly because of Jack's current state of mind, but for the moment, the only thing that was on his mind was that his little sister was back in his arms dancing with him to their song. If there were a list of ways to pull someone out of a major sulk, this would be at the top of that list. She was surprised that when she looked at Rose now, smiling in the arms of a man she was obviously close with, she felt a little pang of… something… she didn't want to think about right now, and so she pushed it to back of her mind and focused on being happy for her.

"Rose?" Jack asked, still in a state of deep shock but finally swaying to the music himself.

"If you were to dance with any other girl to your baby sister's song, I might have to smack you," she replied with her cheeky tongue-in-teeth grin.

"B-but you're dead!" he cried out softly.

"Well, I have to say I'm looking amazing for a corpse," she giggled at him.

"Sorry. My brain is a bit foggy from all the hyper-vodka. I thought the Doctor took you back to the other universe with the other Doctor?"

"He did," Rose admitted. "But Bad Wolf gave me a means to return. The other Doctor is still there, keeping my mum safe, hopefully working for Torchwood with Donna while he grows a new TARDIS."

"Bad Wolf?" he queried. "I thought the Doctor took that power out of you?"

"Most of it," she clarified. "But she hid away a small part in me to help me get back and change a few things."

As the song ended, along with Jack's overwhelming shock, she nodded to Clara and they both led him out of the bar. Rose could tell his shock was passed and a whirl wind of emotions were rising back up again.

"Clara?" she asked as soon as the girl was done pressing buttons on her manipulator.

"Ready," was the only response.

Rose gently took Jacks hand and placed it on Clara's wrist strap, holding it firmly in place with her own. "Let's go home."

Jack was looking back and forth between them when Clara pressed a final button and in a flash, they were gone.

 **.oOo.**

Jack woke with a familiar pain in his head. As hangovers go, this could have been worse. It should have been worse if he drank enough to _hallucinate_ for crying out loud. He started to stretch when he realized he wasn't alone. Looking to his left, he saw the girl that he had come to think of as a little sister slightly curled up, and the other girl, whose name he couldn't remember right now, curled up tightly into Rose's other side. He was for once thankful that they were all stilled dressed. He got up as quietly as he could and realized he was in his old room on the TARDIS. Walking to the bathroom he decided he would take his time in a long and hot shower.

The sound of water running woke Clara a few minutes later. She figured she must have had some pleasant dreams to waking up feeling so happy and warm, but now something was tickling her nose. She opened her eyes to see what it was and froze. In front of her was a face full of golden blonde hair that could only belong to one person. Panic and fear blew away her happy and warm feelings as she scrambled off the bed and fell onto the floor. She quickly got up and ran out the room back to her own room as fast as she could.

Rose woke with a start. She just had time to see the door click shut when she registered a bundle of nervous panic retreating quickly down the hall. Sitting up and wondering what had happened, she slowly stood when the door to the bathroom opened and in walked Jack in some fresh clothes and still damp hair. She felt a wave of nostalgia rolling off of him, but that self-loathing was still swirling in the background of his mind.

"Good morning, Jack," she greeted him.

"Morning, Rose." He looked like he was about to say something else but she beat him to it.

"I need to get cleaned up and changed. How about you go to the kitchen and whip us up some of your amazing pancakes and I'll join you there shortly?" she asked him as she walk over to the door and opened it slightly.

"Sounds like the good old days," he responded with a half grin, and they left the room to different parts of the ship.

 **.oOo.**

" _What the hell did you do?!_ " Clara thought to herself as she was rinsing her hair in her shower. It wasn't like this was the first time she had woken in the same bed as a female friend. But it was the first time she'd ever woken up _cuddled_ into a girl as if she was afraid to let go. Well, except for that one shard of her once fragmented existence that had a short thing with that Nina girl. She had to admit that had been nice, but did that really count? After a few moments thought, she finally decided that it must count, since she remembered it and it was a pleasant memory.

" _But this is ROSE!_ " she thought furiously to herself. " _She's quickly becoming one of your closest friends. You don't want to screw that up do you?_ "

Clara thought hard about that as she dried and dressed for the day. " _Well there's no chance of that. We'll just keep training and then go rescue the Doctor, and then it will be back to business as usual._ "

With that thought firm in her mind, but still not ready to see anyone else yet for some reason, she wandered off to the library to practice her mind skills and study her new toy a bit more.

 **.oOo.**

Rose was polishing off the last of her gorgeous pancakes as she finished bringing Jack up to speed on the changes that resulted from the Bad Wolf and the Impossible Girl. For Rose it was history now, but for Jack it was an incredible tale.

"So, you probably can't change me back then?" Jack asked after a few moments of silence.

"I'm sorry, Jack." She had a sympathetic but sad smile on her face.

"I just…" he started to say as his face finally cracked. "I think I've lived too long."

Rose moved around the table so that she was sitting next to him. "Jack," she put a finger on his chin to turn his head so she could look him in the eyes. "Living such a long life is hard, but you have the strength. I know you do."

"But I…" his voice broke as his walls started crumbling. "I've made some horrible choices."

"That's NOT your fault, Jack." She told him firmly. "Sometimes the best you can make of a situation is still horrible but sometimes it's also the only way."

"You don't know what I almost did!" he shouted, unable to stand the love and caring she was displaying towards him after what he was going to do.

"He's safe now," she told him simply.

"How…" he started to ask and then his eyes went wide. "It was _you_!?"

She smiled softly at him. "You didn't really think I would let my big brother destroy himself or his family like that, did you?"

Jack was floored. "But… how?"

Rose pressed a button on her wrist strap and a hologram appeared above it showing the program for the delta wave that honed to the 456. "Part of a gift from the Bad Wolf," she explained. "Even with how powerful she was, there was only so much she could do in the time that she existed for. She gave us these gifts and abilities to do some of the things that she couldn't, and left an echo of herself within me to help where I can."

Jack whistled in appreciation at the obviously advanced version of the vortex manipulator strapped to her wrist. "That's an impressive piece of technology you have there."

She smiled as she flicked the hologram off. "It's a two-of-a-kind special from Bad Wolf."

As they left the kitchen, Jack had to ask. "Awe, does that mean I don't get one?"

She smiled back at him. "Sorry, Jack, the other one is Clara's."

"Speaking of the lovely Miss Oswald," Jack started causing Rose to look at him sideways as they walked through the library hall way on the way to the garden. "Where has she wandered off? I thought with the way you two were cuddled up together this morning that we'd be seeing a lot more of her today."

"Wait, what?" she asked in surprise. " _So, that's why she left in such a hurry this morning?_ " she thought to herself as a faint blush pinked her cheeks.

"Oh? You didn't realize that?" he asked as he waggled his eyebrows in a teasing manner. "Maybe I should have a little chat with _her_ then."

He was then quite surprised to find himself bodily pushed against the corridor wall with a furious looking Rose Tyler glaring daggers at him. "Captain Jack Harkness," she nearly shouted at him. "You will leave that sweet girl be, do you hear me? She has been through a lot in the last few years and still needs time to sort it all out. Nod if you understand."

Jack nodded quickly, wondering what had caused such a violently abrupt change in his kid sister. She spun on her heel and quickly walked the rest of the way down the hall and around the corner toward the garden.

He breathed out a sigh of relief. "What the hell was that about?" he asked out loud to himself in the empty corridor. "I've never seen her so defensive even about the Doctor, and he's supposedly her best friend." Jack took a deep breath and followed after Rose.

 **.oOo.**

Clara was sitting on a comfortable sofa in the library, her legs curled up under her, studying through some more of the holographic manual when a soft thud from out in the hall caused her to look up in surprise. She just switched off the hologram and stood up to go see what was going on when she heard Rose's voice waft angrily through the closed door and she froze.

She had never heard Rose sound so angry before. When her words registered in Clara's mind, she blushed a little and realized that for some reason, Rose was standing up for her. She walked towards the door to check if everything was alright, when she heard Rose walking quickly away and Jack talking to himself before he too walked away.

She was very surprised with how good Rose's words made her feel, but didn't want to let on that she'd overhear them so she tapped a few buttons on her manipulator and popped to a few minutes earlier in the garden.

 **.oOo.**

Rose was so embarrassed with herself for the way she lost control back there. She wasn't entirely sure why she snapped at Jack like that, but she felt bad about it. She continued on through the garden towards her favorite spot when she stopped in her tracks.

There, sitting on the stone bench, was the girl in question. Clara was facing the gentle stream, leaning back on her palms slightly, and her face turned up to the simulated sun with her eyes closed and a content look on her face.

Rose's breathing hitched for a moment before she shook her head to clear the stray thoughts from her mind and walked over. "Can I join you?"

Clara didn't open her eyes, but an honest and wide smile broke out on her face. "Sure."

Rose sat down, letting herself relax a bit and looked at the water flowing through the stream to avoid staring at her friend. She pulled her legs up to sit cross legged on the bench before speaking again.

"I was planning to do a little meditation before trying to work on the telepathy Bad Wolf told us about."

"That's exactly what I'm doing," Clara responded without opening her eyes. They fell into a companionable silence for the next few minutes, just focusing their minds inward. They were so deep in this state of mind that they hadn't noticed Jack had joined them.

When Rose eventually opened her eyes after taking a deep breath, she was a little surprised to see Jack sitting on the grass in front of her looking at them. He gave her an apologetic smile and she nodded, smiling back. Clara must have just opened her eyes as well because she let out a little startled "eep."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," Jack said. "I understand why Rose would be meditating, with her empathic ability and such, but what about you?" he asked, looking at Clara.

Clara nodded her head in Rose's direction. "She's been teaching me what she learned."

When Jack looked at Rose, she clarified. "Part of the modifications Bad Wolf made to us. She granted us some advanced technical knowledge as well as some telepathic abilities that we are slowly learning to use. I thought what the Doctor taught me for my empathy might be a good start. We want to have a good understanding of our mental and psychic defenses before we go get the Doctor, just in case he thinks memory blocks might be best for us."

"If everything you told me over breakfast is true, I don't think he'd do that to either of you, but I can understand your caution," he stated. "It's a good idea to take time while you have the chance to learn and practice such things so you have it available in case you needed it unexpectedly. Would you like some help?"

Rose raised an enquiring eyebrow at him. "You never told me you had any telepathic training."

"It never came up," was his response. "I used to be a time agent, remember? During testing, they discovered I had some low-level telepathic ability. Not all that much more than your empathy really. But they trained me to harness it. Helps when we encounter tech that has a psycho-neuro interface."

"Really? These are supposed to have that capability as well," she said indicating her vortex manipulator. It looked kind of like a smartphone attached with a moderately narrower and more elegant looking band than Jack's. Around the sides of the devices were a few little nubs and Rose flipped the display up to reveal another screen inside with several buttons, knobs, dials, and switches underneath.

Jack nodded appreciatively. "That really is sleeker than mine," he said lifting his arm to show his own vortex manipulator that he kept from the time agency. "Wanna trade?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

Rose grinned back at him. "Like I said earlier, they are two of a kind. I'm pretty sure they will only work for us," she said with a nod towards Clara. "There is something I can do for you however. It's something else Bad Wolf left for me to do."

Rose reached out and touched Jack's vortex manipulator and it glowed with golden energy for a moment before settling down.

Jack looked from the manipulator to Rose in confusion. "What was that?"

"Upgrade," she told him. "Your manipulator was prototype tech. That just stabilized its core, gave it a micro-module for drawing zero-point energy directly from the vortex like ours has, and added a real-time link to the TARDIS relative to your own personal timeline so that you don't accidently teleport to a version of the Doctor before he met you for example."

"That's fantastic!" he exclaimed as he picked Rose up in a bear hug and twirled her around a couple times.

Clara has been quietly watching the exchange and could understand why people would think they were siblings. They certainly acted like it. She was also pleased that the earlier hostility seemed to have evaporated and she decided to speak up.

"So, you think you can help us learn how to mind-meld with these?" she asked with a challenge in her voice.

Jack clapped his hands and rubbed them together with an exaggerated smile on his face. "Ladies… let's begin."

 **.oOo.**


	5. Chapter 5: Mopping Up Part Two

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 ** _Chapter 5: Mopping Up Part Two_**

After four months of intensive training with Jack, and the occasional day trips to relax, the girls had become fairly proficient with the mental interface on their computers. That's how they thought of them now as they were more like personal supercomputers that had vortex technology built into them rather than simply vortex manipulators alone.

Jack told them to go ahead to the garden and he would meet them in a little bit for another lesson, so that's where they were headed. They were chatting lightly as they walked over to the stone bench when they caught sight of something different.

There on the bench, were two identical devices that they had not previously seen around. After they approached, they both cautiously picked them up to examine them. The first thing that Rose noticed was the tip of the device. It had a translucent rounded tip, like her Doctor's sonic screwdriver. This was connected to about two or so inches of some type of purple metal framework. Within the framing were what looked like four similarly translucent tubes of some type. The base of this was connected to a handle that had a sliding switch, a few purple buttons here and there, and another slender bit of framing, this time jet black, surrounding a solid looking dark purple cylindrical core.

Rose was the first to slide the main switch forward. It emitted a familiar whirring sound of a sonic screwdriver, and the tip and tubes glowed with purple light, with the tubes oscillating on an off in various patterns.

Clara switched hers on and the result was the same. She switched it off at the same time as Rose and looked at her, asking the obvious question. "Sonic screwdrivers?"

Rose looked rather amused. "Nah," she said. "Only the Doctor has a sonic screwdriver. I'm gonna call these sonic probes, just to annoy him," she said with a look of mischief on her face.

Clara laughed in a way that sounded musical to Rose. "That will drive him right up the walls. We'll just have to tell him that only he can have a sonic 'screwdriver' because it's his signature."

Rose chuckled in agreement and switched hers back on. She focused on it for a second and let out a little squeak of happiness. "It has a mental interface like the computers and can connect with them too," she said as she switched it back off again.

"That should be handy," Clara said as she focused on a thought and her computer wrist strap morphed to include a shallow clip that the probe fit snuggly into.

"Oh, that's a good idea," Rose said as she copied her friend's idea.

Rose then looked up to the simulated sky and asked the TARDIS, "Did you make these for us?"

The background hum of the TARDIS pitched up a little in what was unmistakably a happy sound before settling back down.

Rose smiled at the acknowledgement. "Thanks, dear."

"I never asked," Clara started. "Why do you call the TARDIS dear?"

"I use a term of endearment or affectionate title for all the important people close to my heart."

"What's mine then?" Clara asked before thinking.

Rose smiled a little flirtatiously as she said, "Stick around and I might tell you."

Clara blushed lightly at that but didn't look away. Rose was pleased to notice the faint blush wasn't accompanied by the usual embarrassment, but instead with a happy little flutter.

"So, shall we do a bit of meditation while we wait for Jack?" Rose asked.

"Too late, I'm already here," they heard him was as he came around the bend in the path with a cheeky smile all over his face.

"Too bad you weren't here sooner. You missed the fun," Rose shot back at him.

"Oh? And what might that have been?" he asked with a raised eyebrow thinking he already knew based on the little snippet of conversation he overheard. Instead, he was quite surprised when they both reached to their arms and pulled off identical devices that suddenly glowed with purple light and a familiar whirring sound.

"No way! Where did you get sonic screwdrivers?" he asked them in mild awe.

The both smiled as they returned their new sonic devices to their new wrist holsters and Rose answered him. "These are sonic _probes_."

Clara finished for her. "Yeah, the sonic screwdriver is the Doctor's signature so only he has it."

Jack shook his head in amusement. "So, ready for some more training?"

"Actually" Rose started, "I think we need another day off from training. There's another task Bad Wolf left for me, and I think today is a good day to do it."

"What task is that?" Jack asked while Clara just gave her a questioning look.

"Restore Donna's memory and fix her mind. She won't be part Time Lord anymore, but she'll still be a little advanced."

"Do you think your skills are up to that already?" he asked with a puzzled look.

"I honestly don't know if I'll ever have that kind of skill, but this is something specifically from Bad Wolf. She left a little sliver of her power within me, and it just needed some time to recharge after upgrading your vortex manipulator. I'm just… I dunno. Sort of like a delivery vehicle for the remaining tasks she had left over."

"Alright then," Clara said. "Let's get going."

 **.oOo.**

The trio appeared in an ally way about a block away from Donna and Shaun's apartment around seven in the evening. It was just starting to get dark when they walked down the street and up the stairs to the next floor apartment. Since this was a task that was left to Rose, she was in the lead.

Since it was a few days after the wedding and just the night before the lottery drawing, she knew they couldn't afford a honeymoon yet and expected this would be the best time to catch her at home. Rose took a deep, calming breath and knocked on the door.

The sound of footsteps could be heard and then the door cracked open revealing a kind looking dark skinned man. "Hello, can I help you?" he asked the three of them.

"Hi," Rose started. "Is Donna in? We need to talk to her for a few minutes about an emergency meeting that's happing at work tomorrow morning."

"Sure," her replied as he opened the door all the way. "Come in."

After they entered and he closed the door behind them, he called out. "Donna, you have visitors from the office."

"Why not just call?" she asked as she walked in from another doorway.

"It's about an emergency meeting tomorrow morning," Rose stated with false authority as she walked towards Donna with her hand extended slightly as if to shake the redhead's hand. "I promise, we'll only take up a few minutes of your time."

As she got closer, and Donna reached out to shake the offered hand, Rose swiftly lifted her hand instead and touched two fingers to the side of Donna's head, causing the area to glow golden for a second.

Donna gasped in surprise, before her eyes rolled back in her head and she started to collapse. Jack rushed forward to catch her and carry her over to the sofa while Clara swiftly intercepted Shaun who looked torn between going to Donna's side and dialing 999.

"I promise you, she's not hurt. She's going to be absolutely fine," Clara tried to assure him.

"What did you do to my wife!" he almost shouted.

"She's fine, she just needs a few minutes to adjust," Rose assured him as she joined Clara.

"Adjust to what?" he asked, still sounding rather panicked.

"Tell ya what," Jack said as he too joined the conversation. "How about you wait five minutes and if she's not up and shouting again by then, you can call the police and we'll stand here nice and quietly to await arrest."

Rose chuckled at that. "Tell me, has Donna ever spaced out, just sort of stopped and looked with a faraway gaze?"

He looked at Rose suspiciously but offered confirmation. "Sometimes, yeah."

"I thought so," Rose said as she nodded slightly. "Her subconscious trying to remember something that it can't get access to."

"What are you talking about?" he asked in mounting frustration.

Before anyone could respond however, they all heard a groan from the sofa and turned to look at Donna as she came around.

"Ugh. Did anyone get the number of that lorry?"

"Sorry, Donna," Rose spoke. "No lorries this time."

It was almost comical the way Donna's eyes snapped open in disbelief. "Rose?"

"Hello," she responded with a cheeky little wave and grin.

Donna sprang up from the sofa in a fury. "Where is that skinny little space man?! I'm gonna whack him upside the head!"

The trio of time travelers couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Relax, Donna. He had to block of your memories to save your life," Rose told her.

"How is it that I remember now?"

"A gift from Bad Wolf," Rose replied.

"Excuse me," Shaun piped in. "Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?"

Donna ran over to hug her husband tightly. "I am so sorry I couldn't tell you before. But as has already been said, my memories we blocked."

"Okay, I guess I can understand at least _why_ you couldn't tell me. But can you please explain _what_ you couldn't tell me before?

"I used to travel through time and space with my best friend who was an alien called the Doctor," she told him seriously.

Rose doubled over in a fit of laughter at the proclamation while Jack and Clara both giggled at the absurdity of that extremely simple, yet quite loaded and very true statement.

"Oh, Donna," Rose started, panting from laughing so hard. "You have such a gift for understatement, you deserve an award for that one."

Donna turned back to look at her husband to see him gaping at her like she'd grown another head with horns and a tail.

"You don't believe me?"

"You just told me your best friend is an alien that you've time traveled with," he said after he recovered slightly. "How'd you expect me to react?"

"It's true though," Clara spoke up. "We've all traveled with him at some point."

"Who're you?" Donna asked with a curious tone in her voice.

"Clara Oswald," she responded while shaking Donna's hand. "Current companion of the Doctor."

"Where is this Doctor then?" Shaun asked.

"Near the end of the universe at the moment," Clara informed him.

"Not realizing that he's about to be rescued," Jack added.

"After were train up a bit more," Rose concluded.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Donna asked in exasperation.

"Long story," Clara replied. "We can explain after your honeymoon."

"We won't be able to have a honeymoon for some time," Shaun informed them.

"Have you still got that lottery ticket?" Rose asked Donna.

"What about it?"

"Present from your dad," Rose told her.

"Bought with a quid he gave to the Doctor," Clara continued.

"Delivered via time machine," Jack finished.

Donna carefully sat down at hearing that. "No way!"

"I don't know if I believe any of this," Shaun stated.

"Would you believe Wilf?" Rose asked.

"He's helped the Doctor as well," Clara supplied.

"He should be out with his telescope by now, right?" Rose inquired.

"Yeah."

Rose tapped a few keys on the screen of her wrist computer and turned to Clara. "I just sent you the coordinates. Will you take Jack and we'll be right behind you?"

Clara just nodded and held her arm out for Jack to touch her wrist, and a moment later the two vanished in a flash of purple light.

"What was that?!" Donna and Shaun asked at the same time.

"Not quite as special as traveling by TARDIS I'll admit, but it gets the job done," Rose told them as she held out her arm for them both to touch her wrist. A moment later the three of them were gone.

They arrived just a few seconds behind to see Wilf staring open mouthed in shock at the people that just appeared in front of him. He barely had time to register who the new comers were when he found himself engulfed in a hug.

"Hi, Gramps."

"Donna?" he asked in a very concerned and slightly panicked voice.

"I know, Gramps, Rose fixed my head."

Wilf looked over his granddaughter's shoulder at the blonde a few paces away with watery eyes. "Thank you, sweetheart. Thank you so much!"

"It's the least I could do for the woman that saved all the universes in the whole of creation."

Shaun looked at her with confusion written all over his face. Rose smiled at him. "They can fill you in while you all tell her mum that she's got her memories back."

Rose then held her arm out for Clara and Jack and a moment later, the trio disappeared in a flash of light.

 **.oOo.**

Three months later found the trio relaxing in the pool which was thankfully no longer in the library. They hadn't been able to progress anymore in their telepathy however and really needed this break.

Jack climbed out of the pool revealing what he considered to be a rather fetching tight black speedo and looked back at the girls in their hot pink bikinis on the floaties as they were finishing the last of their homemade cocktails and smiled as he thought back on the past few months. It had been a good time and they had quite a bit of fun, but the lack of progress was starting to really frustrate the girls which is why he suggested a swim.

"You know," he started to say as he walked towards the diving board, "it is entirely possible that you just don't have the ability to scan people's thoughts. Even I can't get more than light surface thoughts of completely unshielded minds, and that's usually a lucky thing if it happens." He climbed the few steps to the board before he finished. "So tomorrow we'll try to see if you can mind speak instead."

They started paddling their floaties back towards the middle of the water having set their empty glasses on the side of the pool.

"How's that different?" Clara asked curiously.

"It's a different intent," he explained as he reached the end of the board. "You're initiating an open channel with the intent of communication, so even a non-telepath can respond as long as you keep the channel open, but you can only get what they purposely project and vice versa. Just like you have to think about what you want to say before it transmits to your vocal cords."

The two girls looked at each other with renewed determination only to be surprised as Jack yelled "Cannon ball!" and proceeded to throw them both off their floaties with the wave he created.

When they surfaced a moment later spluttering, Jack was laughing at them! This had to be punished. Rose and Clara looked at each other and nodded before reaching back with their flat open palms and smacking the water in a direction aimed straight at him. The resulting double wave splashed at his face from both sides. He just grinned mischievously and lunged toward Clara. With a surprised eep, she scurried over to Rose, placing a hand on each of her shoulders and promptly ducking behind her to hide from Jack.

Rose felt a pleasant warmth at the contact and a sudden protective urge towards her friend. She then did the only thing that came to her mind. Rose lunged at Jack, knocking him off balance and dunking him under the water.

"Ha!" Rose laughed and shot a triumphant smile at Clara, who smiled back at her, before Rose yelped and was lifted up out of the water to reveal Jack holding her up on his shoulders, laughing merrily.

With a glint in his eyes, Jack leaped towards Clara and abruptly dropped below the surface of the water, causing Rose to go flying. Clara's eyes widened, but instead of jumping out of the way, she flung her arms wide and caught Rose in a hug as they both submerged for a moment.

Rose was caught slightly by surprise at the wave of intense and pure happiness that radiated from Clara, but returned the hug with an affectionate squeeze before they both breached the water line again and everyone caught their breath.

"Well, that was fun!" Rose exclaimed merrily as they all chuckled.

 **.oOo.**

It was only a week later when they had a breakthrough in their training. Having given up on mental scanning, they pushed on to mind speaking and had rather quick success.

" _Can you hear me, Jack?_ " Rose projected into his mind like a whisper for the first time.

"Yep," he verbalized with a smile.

Clara looked at him curiously before she heard a whisper of Rose in her mind. " _You can do it, Clara. I know you can._ "

The brunette girl's eyes went wide in realization and she focused with more intent than she thought she was capable of. " _Can either of you hear me?_ "

"Yep," Jack said.

"Wow, you got two minds at the same time on the first try! Great work, Clara. I told you that you could do it!" Rose replied happily.

Clara beamed at her with happy pride.

 **.oOo.**

After another week, in which the only communication was mind speaking to help them all, even Jack, get used to the skill and make it easier, Rose finally spoke aloud.

"Why don't you both take the day to relax and have some fun?"

"What about you?" Clara asked with a touch of concern while Jack looked across the kitchen table at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I…" Rose hesitantly started. "I have a task for Bad Wolf that I have to do alone."

Clara's concerned frown deepened at her close friend's hesitation while Jack just nodded in acceptance. He knew there were some things one had to do alone.

"Are you sure you don't want one of us to come with you?" Clara asked. If Rose was hesitant, it was likely to be a very trying task and she didn't want her to deal with something like that alone.

"I appreciate the offer," Rose told her with a sad smile. "But this is something I really have to do myself." She looked thoughtful for a moment and then spoke again. "There is one thing you can do for me."

"Anything," Clara told her emphatically.

Rose fingered the loose chain around her neck, before pulling it over her head and taking it off. "You can keep this safe for me," she told Clara as she gently put it on her.

Clara gasped at that and felt a little spark where Rose's fingers touched her neck as she set the necklace against her skin. She knew how important this was to Rose. It was her absolutely, without a doubt, most treasured possession. It wasn't _just_ a key or even _just_ a key to the TARDIS. When the Doctor gave it to her, it was like he was giving her a key to a whole new life.

"Keep it safe?" Rose whispered in her ear before pulling away.

" _With my life._ " Clara replied solemnly directly to Rose's mind.

Rose nodded, stood up, and walked out of the kitchen towards her room, Clara and Jack following, lending silent support. Once in her room, Rose put on a warm purple hoodie, a thick knitted scarf, and a big black snow hat to keep her head and ears warm.

She stepped over to Jack and he gave her a comforting hug, before he stepped back. Then she stepped over to Clara, but instead of waiting, she pulled the slightly shorter girl into a tight, needy squeeze which was returned just as strongly.

After a few moments, they separated and Rose stepped back. She pressed a few keys on her wrist computer and disappeared.

 **.oOo.**

Rose was walking back to the estate with her mum wondering why she hadn't seen the Doctor. She knew he was around somewhere and he was supposed to talk to her at some point tonight, but he hadn't shown, and she wondered if she had done something wrong. She was also starting to crack inside knowing that this may very well be the last time she sees her mother.

As they turned around the corner, she caught sight of the TARDIS down the alley out of the corner of her eye and stopped dead in her tracks, grabbing her mother's arm to stop her as well, but also trying not to draw attention to the TARDIS.

She pulled her mum into a fierce hug and held her tight, trying like hell not to cry. "Mum," she started and then paused as her voice hitched. "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course, sweetheart. What's wrong?"

"Nothin's wrong, Mum. I just have to tell you a secret and I don't have much time to tell it in. Now, you _must_ promise me, swear to me on _my_ life that you will keep this a secret."

"Sweetheart, you're scaring me. What's the matter?"

"Unless you swear, the only thing I can tell you is that my empathy plays a part in it. The government might try to capture or even kill me if this somehow leaked out."

Jackie looked terrified, but if it could save her daughter's life, she would keep the secret. "Alright then, I swear."

"I'm a time traveler, Mum."

Now Jackie looked like she might have to have her daughter committed.

"I know you don't believe me right now, but I can prove it to you."

"How?"

"You were surprised to see me show up at the party tonight, weren't you?"

"Well, yes. I thought you were going to be at another party with Micky," her mother admitted.

"My past self, who also can't know about this, is still at that party right now. Go on, give me a call to wish me a happy New Year."

Jackie still looked at her daughter like she was crazy, but decided to humor her. She pulled out her mobile and put it to her ear after pressing send. After a few rings, her eyes widened as she heard a familiar voice answer. "Hello?"

"Hi, sweetheart! Happy New Year!" she said, shock and disbelief clear on her face.

The Rose in front of her suppressed a chuckle while the Rose on the other end of the phone could be heard laughing happily. "Happy New Year to you too, Mum."

"Well, I just wanted to wish you a happy New Year's and tell you I love you, just in case I'm not back yet or asleep when you get in. Have a good night. Tra!"

Jackie put the phone back in her pocket and looked at her future daughter in shock, barely managing to whisper, "You really _are_ from the future."

Rose smiled at her and hugged her again before stepping back.

"But why are you coming back like this and telling me now?"

"I don't have the time right now to explain all the rules involved with time travel, especially since I'm breaking one right now. Just trust me when I say it was the easiest point to come back and warn you."

"Warn me? What's gonna happen?"

"I promise you, Mum, I'm going to be okay. Remember, this has already happened for me. But in March, I'm gonna lose my job. A couple days after that, I'm going to disappear without a trace. You have to promise me NOT to report me missing to the police or anyone."

"What do you mean, missing?!" Jacking asked with rising panic.

"I told you, Mum, I'm gonna be fine. The thing is though, that's when I take my first trip through time. I'm only really gone for a couple weeks for me. When I came back to visit, to keep it a secret, we set the time machine to take me back to a point where only twelve hours would have passed since I left. Are you with me so far?"

"I think so," Jackie stated. "You went traveling for a few weeks, and then came back to a point where only twelve hours passed for me."

"Well, that was the plan," Rose told her with a chuckle. "But there was a little glitch. Remember, this was my first time traveling by time machine, so I didn't know this kind of glitch could happen. But instead of being twelve hours later, I came back twelve _months_ later."

Jackie put a hand to her heart and felt a little bit feint. "A _year_. I would have panicked, thought you were kidnapped or killed or such."

"You did," Rose agreed. "You reported me missing, had flyers all over the place, almost had a heart attack when I walked in the flat thinking I'd only been gone twelve hours, and then called the police when my friend rushed in hoping to tell me about the glitch before it could cause a problem. You thought I was his sex slave or something. You got really angry because we couldn't say anything about the time travel to you yet."

"I can imagine. What do you mean, _his_? Who's _he_?"

"It's his time machine we travel in. He becomes my best friend in the whole universe, Mum. But when I met him, he had been through a terrible loss that I can't even try to describe to you right now. He was so lost and _broken_. He needed a friend, Mum. And to be perfectly honest, I needed a change in my life, too."

Jackie nodded her understanding. She knew her daughter's empathy was something special and was glad she'd found such a good friend that apparently wasn't taking advantage of it. Something prickled at the back of her mind though. She had thought Rose looked a bit different when she showed up at the party but had initially put it down to the several drinks she drank.

"How old are you now?"

Rose pulled back the sleeve of her hoodie and looked at something that must be a futuristic kind of time traveler's watch, before hiding it under her sleeve again. "I'll be twenty-six in just over a week."

Jackie looked at her in confusion. "But your birthday is in the summer."

"That's the life of a time traveler, Mum. This thing," she pointed at her wrist, "can keep track of the number of days I've lived through. By that count, I turn twenty-six next week."

Jackie pulled her into a tight hug. "Happy early birthday, sweetheart."

Rose choked up a little bit but muttered a thank you.

"What is it, what's wrong?" her mum asked seeing her daughter's distress.

"Nothin's wrong, Mum. I just don't have much time left. You have another party to get to and I have to leave before my younger self gets back."

"It's more than that, though. What is it you're not telling me?"

"It's not that I don't want to tell you, Mum. It's that I _can't_ tell you. I don't know if I'll be able to visit like this again before the time line catches up, but I promise you I'm gonna try."

"Oh, God, I'm dead, aren't I?"

"No, Mum. You're actually very happy the last time I saw you. But something _does_ happen that will make it impossible for me to see you again," Rose said, finally letting the tears stream down her face.

Jackie was furiously wracking her brain trying to think of something, anything, that might help ease her daughter's obvious grief. _A year!_ It was a quiet memory from just a few moments ago, but it struck her like a truck.

"A year," she whispered to her daughter, causing her to look slightly confused. She had to chuckle at that. Mothers can still help their kids even when they've grown up.

"You were gone for a whole year you said. Come back and visit then. Just… I dunno, get a new hat or something that you never had before now and always wear that when you visit so I know you're this you and not the younger you."

Rose's eyes lit up and the change in her was immediate as she threw herself into her mother's arms. "Mum, that's _genius_! I didn't have this," she pulled up her sleeve briefly to indicate her wrist computer, "until after the final day I got to see you. If you ever see me with it on, you'd know it's the older me!"

Jackie held her tighter before stepping back and kissing Rose on the cheek. "Now, you better get going before the younger you get back, and I need to get to that party you said I'm supposed to be at. So, we'll catch up in a few months when you come back for your first visit."

"I love you, Mum. Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year, sweetheart," Jackie said as she walked away down the street towards her friend's place. She knew she wasn't going to be able to have another drink tonight for fear of possibly letting this amazing new information slip out, but it would be worth it.

Rose watched her mother wander off down the street before slowly turning and walking down the alley towards the estate's back stairs. She felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off her shoulders, but was concerned that she still hadn't seen the Doctor even though she was now well passed the TARDIS.

There was a corner in the wall coming up. That must be where the Doctor is waiting, hoping to watch her pass without being noticed so he doesn't mess with the timeline. She stood just around the corner from him. She really hated the idea of lying to her best friend, but it needed to be done, because everyone deserves hope. She took a deep breath, and stepped around the corner casually.

 **.oOo.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Impossible Wolf

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** For those wondering when this get's into Stargate, that will happen within a few chapters. I will admit to having a little more difficulty with writing this story than I might usually have as I want this to be more about the possibilities of a Rose and Clara love story than anything else. The downside of that is that without a clear villain or direction, it makes the story a little more difficult. Anyway, if any of you reading this are like me, then this is probably a chapter you've been waiting for. Hope you like it.

 ** _Chapter 6: The Impossible Wolf_**

Rose took a deep breath and stepped around the corner. "Hello, Doctor."

He looked up at her in shock as his jaw dropped open. This was supposed to be a few months before his previous-self met her. She shouldn't even know that name let alone this face. His mouth opened and closed a few times before any sound finally came out. "What!?"

She couldn't help it. She smirked at him. "What happened to that unending gob, Doctor?"

He groaned as a sudden thought struck him. "Oh, please don't tell me I'm about to regenerate into the form of my best friend."

Now it was her turn to stare in shock for a moment, before she doubled over in laughter. Oh, she just had to run with this a little bit more. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out her sonic probe, switching it on to light up and emit that lovely buzzing sound. He was gob-smacked again until she switched it off and put it away back up her sleeve.

"How the hell am I supposed to live at all when every reflective surface I pass breaks my hearts?"

Her smile dropped, immediately replaced with a look of sorrow. "I'm so sorry, my Doctor. Perhaps it was a cruel joke," she said. As he was still staring at her, she reached up suddenly and touched her hand to his chest directly over his hearts, and her hand glowed golden for a moment.

He jumped back a step. "What did you do to me?"

"I paused your regeneration temporarily. It will resume as soon as you enter the TARDIS."

"B-but, how, neither a future regeneration nor Rose could possibly have that power."

Rose willed her eyes to flash golden briefly and he was still in shock after it faded. "I am the Bad Wolf. I want you safe, my Doctor."

"But you can't be. You just can't. I took the vortex out of her!"

"I can see everything. All that is. All that was. All that ever could be."

"Ooooooooooooh, of course! You projected yourself back along her timeline for something. I'm assuming, that when you fade back she will be well and not remember this?"

She smiled at him, letting him assume whatever he wanted.

"So why here, why now?" he asked her.

"I want you safe, my Doctor. Protected even from yourself."

"But what does that _mean_?!" he half shouted at her in frustration.

"It means, Doctor," she said in a mildly annoyed tone, "that you need to stop pushing away the people that care about you."

"You have _no right_ to tell me how to live my lives!"

"I do, if you're not _living_ them!"

The Doctor reacted as if slapped by that comment.

"The number of paradoxes that your life equates to would stagger even _your_ brilliant and stubborn mind. Enough to create a scar in the very fabric of the _universe_! And do you know _why_ that was allowed to happen?"

The Doctor shook his head mutely. The Bad Wolf reminded him so much of his Rose, always trying to knock some sense into him.

"Because _all_ of that pales in comparison to the number of lives and worlds you save!"

He gulped at that. He thought none of it made a difference, considering all the people he still lost. He just couldn't see the balance.

"Loss is a part of living, Doctor. And sometimes, so is sacrifice. Harriet Jones barely knew you. And with what she did know, she disagreed with you on some fundamental points of view. And yet, she still sacrificed herself to reach you. What did that accomplish? It united you and yours to save _all_ universes in _all of creation_! Oh, you credit Donna with that, and perhaps that's at least partly true, but you forget she was only there to be able to save it all because of YOU!"

The Doctor's eyes went wide during her rant. " _Is that really how it looks from outside of my life?_ " But he was still stubborn, he didn't want to see the positive. All the personal loss made it seem better to just give up.

"I thought I created myself to save your _lives_ , Doctor!" she shouted at him and laughed humorlessly. "Imagine my surprise when I found another in your timeline already doing that. With that task so well in hand, I considered your hearts, but found those too in good hands. For an instant, I was at a loss, and then it struck me. I was created to save your _soul_."

He stared at her, completely dumbstruck. How was he… how was _anyone_ … supposed to react to something like that?

"It is our choices, and the company we keep, that define us, Doctor. The Time War nearly destroyed you, but Rose and Jack brought you hope and renewal. Martha brought you time and mourning. Donna and River brought you friendship and humor and sass. And now, when it seems to have all been ripped away again, you start pushing everyone away, walling yourself off. What does _that_ bring you though, Doctor?"

He didn't want to answer, seeing it all laid out like that, he knew the answer but didn't want to admit to it.

"It brings you me, Doctor, with a smack upside your head," she said with a slight chuckle. "And a message to lead you forward. _Nunquam Singularis._ "

He stared at her still. His mind was reeling and spinning, grasping for anything to put the world back into focus.

She grabbed his hand. "Come on, Doctor. Instead of running, let's walk this time."

He followed along with her, trying to process everything that just happened. She was walking quite slow though, as if trying to savor every step, and just trying to _be_ there for him in the short time they had. He could hear the Ood singing to him as he reached the door of the TARDIS, and out of habit, he unlocked it and pushed the door open, but she held him back a moment.

"As soon as you are through those doors and they are closed behind you, your regeneration will resume. I have something still to say to you though. Three more brain benders."

"W-what?"

She smiled enigmatically at him. "You'll figure them out eventually, so listen closely."

He nodded, unsure what else he even _could_ do.

"The raven is not her end. Do NOT leave the extraction chamber, rather wait to be rescued. And finally, Bowties are cool!"

He spluttered incoherently for a moment, before finally managing a single word. "WHAT?"

She smiled at him again, placed her hand softly on his back, and pushed him through the doors.

 **.oOo.**

Rose reappeared directly in her bedroom of the TARDIS. She knew she had to say all of that to the Doctor. She absently kicked off her shoes, placed her hat, hoodie, and scarf on her desk chair, and somehow made it over to sit on the side of her bed before she broke down into tears.

She had gotten her message across, she was sure of that. But it had also resonated with something so very deep within herself. She wished she could be there for her best friend and not have to leave him alone for his next few thousand years, but she knew he would have good people with him on his journey. And just as she told him, loss is part of the journey.

Her empathy had been taken advantage of before. She had kept at least some type of distance between herself and others ever since that tosser Jimmy Stone. And she had learned in her time with the Doctor and since, that there are some people worth risking yourself for.

She felt for him and she also felt like a hypocrite for her words. And so, she wept. Rose hadn't even realized there was someone else in her room with her until she felt a pair of slender arms slowly encircle her in a gentle, comforting hug.

She instinctively flung her arms around Clara and returned the hug greedily. "Oh, Clara, what have I become?!"

"What you always were," she responded softly. "A kind, brilliant, caring, and beautiful soul that knows even the best of people have hidden scars."

"I've never outright lied to him like that before," Rose said through her tears.

"What lie did you tell him?"

"I told him that I am the Bad Wolf. He actually thought he was talking to Bad Wolf."

"Okay, but what _lie_ did you tell him?" Clara asked again as the lightly stroked her friend's hair.

Rose pulled back slightly, trying to look at her even though her eyes were overflowing with tears she thought might never end.

"It's no wonder you and the Doctor are best mates," Clara told her. "You're both too thick to see the truth about yourselves."

Rose's tears continued, but slowed, as she tried to work out what her friend was telling her.

"You keep saying that you have these tasks left to you by Bad Wolf, that she left a sliver of her power within you before the Doctor took the vortex out of you. You've been acting like you're a messenger, the Bad Wolf's errand girl."

"Well, I basically am," Rose admitted as she wiped her eyes even though her tears were still flowing a bit.

"Tell me something, Rose. From the moment that the Doctor kissed you and took the power out of you, to the moment when he released it back to the TARDIS, how much time elapsed, rough estimate?"

Her tears finally stopped as she thought for a moment. "About ten or fifteen seconds maybe. Why?"

"And he basically died and had to regenerate just minutes later, yes?"

Rose nodded at her, a look of concentration on her face as she tried to follow what exactly Clara was trying to tell her.

"And how long," she started again, "linear time for your physical form did you contain that same power that forced the Doctor to regenerate?"

Comprehension shined on Rose's face like a light. "At least ten minutes," she said breathlessly.

"Yes and no," Clara told her. "The first thing you did with that power was to modify yourself to be able to contain it and use it as efficiently as you possibly could for as long as you could. But that was always only going to be a temporary solution. What you _were_ able to do, was permanently modify yourself to still carry a sliver of that power. A sliver of power, I might add, that you still carry with you even now, as you continue to do good things with it."

Rose saw a look of supreme caring, admiration, and especially _acceptance_ on Clara's face as her friend smiled at her. "You _ARE_ the Bad Wolf. You really did create yourself."

Rose pulled the girl to her in an extremely relieved hug, though she still had a flicker of fear for what this might mean for her. She realized she has been back in this universe for nearly a year, and still had the sliver of power that was now a part of her, and she was still there.

Clara patted Rose's back comfortingly with one hand while the other stroked her hair to help calm her. She was so glad this girl that she cared so much for was no longer so distraught.

"You've had quite a day it seems," she started. "You should probably get some sleep," she concluded as she gently released Rose and stood up.

Rose felt the flicker of fear flare up again. " _No more._ " She decided. She didn't want to be a hypocrite and hide away when she was always telling others to open up.

"W-will you…" the blonde girl began in a small voice as she grabbed the brunette's hand. "Will you stay, please? I… don't want to be alone."

She nodded kindly at Rose as her friend scooted towards the middle of the bed to make some room. Clara kicked off her shoes and slid in next to her, pulling her close and holding her as they both slowly drifted off to sleep.

 **.oOo.**

Rose woke the next morning to a strange sensation. Something was very different. It took a few more minutes for her to fully wake and realize she was not alone in her bed. The warm feeling that she woke with was quite literally someone warm cuddled close to her.

Memories of the previous night flooded back to her in a rush. She was incredibly grateful to have Clara as a part of her life. She turned her head and looked at the sleeping girl next to her.

Rose saw a very peaceful expression on her face and she felt something flutter inside. No, she wasn't going to withdraw into herself as a first option anymore.

Clara stirred slightly, and her eyes softly fluttered open. Being so close to her, Rose saw bliss shining from her eyes, a look that she had seen from so many random people in her travels. When she saw that look being replaced by fear, she did the only thing she could do. Rose gave in to the first impulse to fire in her brain. She leaned forward and lightly kissed her for a second before pulling back.

When Rose saw the look of fear now replaced by one of happy confusion, she finally spoke. "Thank you, Clara Oswald, for doing the impossible again."

"You're welcome? What did I do?"

Rose smiled radiantly at the confused girl. "You gave hope to a part of me that hasn't known hope for a long time."

"Right? That's good then. Care to tell me how I did that so I can do it again?"

"You just did," Rose informed her, still wearing that brilliant smile. "Just by being you."

Clara might never know just what came over her, but she leaned forward and lightly returned the gentle kiss. When she pulled back, they were both smiling shyly and blushing profusely.

"Well, then," Clara said as she sat up and looked intently at Rose with a mischievous smile. "Time to get ready for a new day. Tell you what though. If you get Jack to make some of those famous pancakes of his, we might just be able to continue this after breakfast."

Rose's eyes widened for a second, before she shot out of the bed, to the door, and down the hall. Clara could hear her trying to bang down Jacks door as she stepped out into the hall and leaned against the wall to watch the goings on. She could hear Rose half shouting as well.

"Jack!" Rose exclaimed as she was beating on his door. "I'm calling in _EVERY_ favor you owe me right now!"

Jack answered the door with a panicked look and not a stitch of clothing on him. "What's wrong? Who needs saving?" he asked with a wild look in his eyes while he looked at his little sister in panicked concern. It took him a moment to register something he'd never seen in her eyes before, but before he could try to make sense of anything, she was answering him.

"Me. Forty-five minutes. Pancakes." After she got that out, she ran back to her room, passed a laughing Clara, and into her bathroom.

"Did…" Jack began asking in disbelief. "Did she really just use EVERY favor… for PANCAKES?!"

Clara was quite amused as she nodded. She then looked him up and down before giving him a mock salute. "Good morning, Captain!" she said, and then walked across the hall into her own room to get ready.

 **.oOo.**

Jack was watching his little sister and their friend carefully as they both worked on their second helpings of pancakes. Something was going on and he couldn't quite figure out what it was. Of course, he'd been woken with such a shock that his brain still hadn't fully engaged yet. He might need another pancake as well to properly boot up the rest of his brain.

So, he continued to watch them in silence as he nibbled on his own pancake. He thought something might be wrong from the nervous glances they were shooting at each other. But when he realized that when either of them caught the other looking, they would both blush, Jack couldn't help but grin a little.

As they were all putting their dishes in the sink, Jack spoke up.

"Clara, I need your help with a little project…" he started. He saw a flicker of panic cross Rose's face as she interrupted.

"I can help too if you want," she let him know.

"Don't worry, Rose, it will just take a few minutes. I just need her to use her sonic to scan the hub for bugs and disable any we find before I seal it up. Besides, you have an early birthday present waiting for you on your bench in the garden."

Rose appeared torn between not wanting to be parted from Clara yet, and curiosity as to what this mystery present could be.

"Well, if it's only going to take a few minutes," she nodded to Jack and then looked to Rose. "I'll meet you in the garden when I get back, yeah?"

Rose nodded, and with a quick glance to Clara, she headed off to the garden.

Jack tapped a few buttons on his vortex manipulator and held his arm out for her. "Ready?"

Clara just placed her hand on his wrist strap as an answer. She was surprisingly miffed about being pulled away from Rose like this, but she supposed it was the least she could do for all the help he gave them in their training.

When they arrived at the Torchwood Three hub, she immediately took out her sonic and started scanning the areas that Jack led her to. They worked in silence to disable all the bugs they ended up finding, not wanting to be recorded on any that might not have been found yet.

"It should be safe to talk now," he told her. "I think we got the last of them, but let's make one more sweep to be safe."

"Not a bad place this," she spoke finally.

"Yeah," he started with a nostalgic lilt in his voice. "It was home for a lot of years. Might well be again someday."

"Hey," she said as she nudged his arm with her shoulder in a friendly gesture. "You've still got us to keep you in line."

He chuckled. "Which brings me to the real reason I wanted to talk to you alone this morning."

She glanced at him sideways while she continued to scan the area with her sonic. "Thanks, Jack, but I don't need to see you in your birthday suit again."

"No," he said with a glint in his eye. "I expect your eyes are looking forward to someone else's birthday suit."

Clara stiffened at that comment.

"And I couldn't help but notice that Rose was suddenly behaving like a smitten teenager earlier."

She turned instinctively and pointed her sonic at the center of his chest. "Subtlety is not your strongest skill this morning," she said dangerously.

Jack was impressed. He was nearly a foot taller and at least fifty pounds heavier than Clara, but here she was standing up to him in defense of Rose. "I'm sure you understand that I have to look out for my little sister," he said, a protective look flitting across his face.

Clara eyed him critically for a moment and then nodded once. "Good," she said before turning back around to finish her scan of the area.

He was surprised at this unexpected turn. "That's all you have to say?"

"It means you'll have her back when she needs it and I'll probably love you forever for that. But know this, Captain Jack," she said as she swirled around furiously, this time pressing the sonic directly under his jaw. Jack was actually frightened when he saw a deep red fire burning in her eyes. "If you make even the slightest attempt to prevent me from giving that lovely girl whatever happiness I am able, well, my fractured-self died more times can I can count. I'm sure there are some you haven't experienced, yet."

Clara looked a bit surprised at her own words and actions, so she spun away again and walked off to the last section and began scanning that area.

Jack watched her in shock as she shakily went back to her task as if nothing happened. He wondered long and hard about how he could have possibly missed such overwhelming devotion in the time he'd been helping them train.

"Looks like we got them all. I'll head back and let you seal this place up in peace," she told him, before disappearing in a flash of light.

 **.oOo.**

Rose loved her present. She sat there for several hours looking at the photo album that Jack gave her. It was half filled with pictures of their time spent with her first Doctor. She figured that the TARDIS must have had a hand in creating the pictures since some of them were moments that none of them had a camera. Actually, most of them were. The picture of Jack's face when he had spun around as he heard their song coming from the back of his soon to explode ship was priceless.

It was nearly lunchtime before she realized how much time had passed, and Clara still hadn't come to find her. She briefly worried something had gone wrong at the hub, but then decided to try what Jack had taught them. While they couldn't read minds as such, they could sense them. This turned out to be easier for Rose since she had always been able to sense approaching and retreating blobs of emotions.

Reaching out, Rose found no sign of Jack but found Clara was in the library. Rose looked a little hurt at first until she sensed the feelings rolling off Clara like a gale in a storm. She was scared. Not 'what if I mess this up' scared, but really terrified. Berating herself for not sensing it earlier, Rose left the garden to find and help the girl she realized she cared so deeply for.

When Rose entered the library, she found Clara curled up at one end of the sofa muttering to herself. As she approached, she could make out some of what Clara was muttering quietly.

"I could have killed him. I _threatened_ to kill him."

Rose was a little surprised by that, but wasn't going to let that stop her from helping. She sat on the sofa near her, but Clara flinched and curled into a tighter ball.

"What happened?"

"I don't… something inside me snapped," Clara said in a small, frightened voice.

"So, tell me about what happened. I might be able to help," Rose responded in that caring, soothing voice that often cracked so many people open.

Instead of trying to explain, she used the mental interface on her wrist computer to make a copy of her memory of her conversation with Jack and sent it to Rose's computer. Rose simply used the mental interface to play it out in her mind rather than on the screen.

Rose was touched at the affection displayed by her words, but could understand why Clara would be upset. It's a frightening thing to realize you are capable of snapping like that, even more so realizing that you probably have the ability to follow through on such a threat.

She scooted closer to Clara and pulled the frightened ball of a girl into a hug. "You have nothing to be so scared of, Clara," she cooed softly to her. "People feel different things with different levels of intensity. I thought you were really sweet."

"SWEET?!" she nearly screeched. "Did you see the look on Jack's face?!"

"Yeah," Rose responded softly. "And I've seen that look on his face once before. And you've seen what he was reacting to before as well."

"Wait," Clara said as she uncurled and sat back for a moment, a very confused look spreading across her face. "What?"

"Not long before I became Bad Wolf, the Daleks had me and were threatening to kill me. The Doctor then threatened to… how did it go… 'And then, just to finish off, I'm gonna wipe _every_ last stinking Dalek _outta the sky_!' he said. Jack had made the same face then. It was complete shock and awe at what he saw on the Doctor's face as he was speaking."

Clara thought about that for a moment before Rose continued. "I believe you saw something similar on the Doctor's face a bit more recently, when he pulled a gun on a room of unarmed Time Lords in his refusal to let you die."

"I must have looked just like Jack when the Doctor did that," she said with a slight chuckle as most of the tension seemed to evaporate from her.

Rose smiled at her. "So, yes, I was quite touched at the affection you displayed."

Clara blushed and gave her a shy smile. "Well, look at everything you've been through, with and without the Doctor. You deserve to be happy."

"And what about you?" Rose challenged. "You deserve to be happy too. There's nothing wrong with a little selfishness from time to time. Everyone needs a little of that to be happy and balanced. So, dig deep and tell me, what do _you_ want?"

Clara closed her eyes in deep thought for a minute. She had a good idea, but she wanted to try to look at everything objectively. When she looked back over everything she did, everything Rose did, and just how similar they were, and how much the Impossible Girl and the Bad Wolf had really done to save each other as well as the Doctor, she knew.

She opened her eyes, looked into Rose's honey colored ones, and answered honestly, "You." And with that simple reply, she leaned in and kissed Rose deeply, pouring all her feelings into that one simple act.

Rose responded in kind, snaking an arm around her back and the other to the back of her neck. It was a release for them both, to no longer wonder or fear what might be. They would face whatever came, together.

When they separated a minute or so later to catch their breath, they were both surprised to see a purple glow in each other's eyes. Realization dawned on them as the final hidden memories slotted into place and a new prophecy was shown to them. They whispered softly in unison, " _The Impossible Wolf._ "

 **.oOo.**

Jack walked through the halls of the TARDIS lost in thought. Clara had obviously been upset when she left him to seal up the hub alone. Perhaps she was startled at the intensity of her own feelings. At least he didn't have to worry about her toying with Rose. " _I really should apologize to her,_ " he thought to himself.

He checked their rooms, idly wondering how long it would be until they shared a room, but found them both empty. He checked the garden next, but didn't find either of them their either. When he finally entered the library, he couldn't help but smile at what he found.

Rose was sitting cross-legged at the end of the sofa. Clara sat at Rose's side with her legs pulled up under her at an angle and her head resting on Rose's shoulder. They were both looking at the photo album he left for her, sometimes smiling and laughing as Rose pointed out something new to Clara.

"That's the night he stopped me falling from the barrage balloon and we had our first dance to Glenn Miller, on top of his invisible spaceship!" Rose said with a laugh. "He had it parked right next to the clock face of Big Ben!"

"You should see that hub of his," Clara said with a giggle. "If I'm right about that water tower I saw there, it's just about underneath the Millennium Centre."

Jack felt a rush of guilt over his previous near accusation and had blurted out "I'm sorry about earlier, Clara."

Clara looked up and hopped off the sofa running over to him and enveloping him in a friendly hug. "I'm sorry too, but I have to say, thank you!"

Jack was rather confused as he looked from the smiling Rose down to the girl hugging and thanking him. "Um, for what?"

"If you hadn't made me snap like that," she started as she smiled up at him. "It may have taken me longer to realize just how in love I am with my wonderful Rose." Clara turned to beam at Rose who blushed prettily and smiled back at her. She gave Jack one last squeeze and returned to Rose on the sofa.

Jack made his way to an armchair near the sofa and smiled a little sadly at them both. He was remembering someone that special to him, when Rose broke through his thoughts.

"Jack, there's something I can do for you after I… recharge, so to speak," she told him in a reserved tone of voice, as if she was nervous to be talking suddenly.

"Oh?"

"It's something you have to decide though. I only realized I could do it recently, or I would have offered sooner. It's going to take me a few weeks at least to recharge that much though, so you have some time to think about it."

The solemn way in which she was saying this made him realize just how serious this could be, so he sat up and asked, "What's so serious that you think I'd need a few weeks to mull over?"

She looked him right in the eyes and told him, "I can bring back Ianto Jones."

 **.oOo.**

"Do you think he'll say yes?" Clara asked as she and Rose were heading back towards their rooms later that night.

"I don't know," Rose admitted. "There's a lot of conflict there which is why Bad Wolf didn't want to make the decision for him."

"Well, whatever he decides," she said as they stopped in front of their doors, "it was a really thoughtful offer." Clara leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight, my Bad Wolf," she said with a happy smirk.

"And you, my Impossible Girl," Rose replied with a soft smile, before reaching over and giving Clara gentle kiss before they went to their respective rooms.

An hour later found Clara tossing and turning, not able to get comfortable enough to sleep, when she heard a whimper through her door. Throwing the covers off, she padded over to the door and stepped out into the hall when she heard it again and realized it was coming from Rose's room.

Quietly stepping into Rose's room, she could hear her whimpers more distinctly, interspersed with some words. "Take me back. Take me back! Come on, fly! How do you fly?!"

"Oh, my sweet Rose," she said sadly to herself as she padded over to the bed and slid in beside her. She pulled Rose close and slid her arms around her, stroking her hair and making some soothing sounds. Rose quieted soon after, and curled into Clara's side, who eventually fell into a peaceful sleep as well.

 **.oOo.**


	7. Chapter 7: Dreams Visits &Changing Plans

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** Here's a surprise present. Another chapter already! There are only a few more chapters left in what I'm calling part one, or act one if you prefer. The story WILL continue after that, however, right here and not as a separate story. Fair warning though... from here on it get's a little more cheesy and sometimes a little rushed. I will post more soon until I have posted the end of part one and then I will be taking a break for some time until I am at least ten chapters ahead in part two. That may take some time with a family member now seriously ill and drives to specialists etc, not to mention the holiday season. I might, possibly, post a paragraph or two of the start of part two with the posting of the end of part one, just so you know I haven't given up on it and am already a little ways into it. Also, sorry if this chapter has a few more errors than usual. I'm tired so my proofreading may have been a little off.

 **A/N 2:** In the process of preparing to post this chapter, I have already gotten some reviews from chapter 6! Thank you so much for the reviews. I hope the rest of the story lives up to your praise.

 ** _Chapter 7: Dreams, Visits, and Changing Plans_**

Rose was twitching and whimpering from a nightmare. She was back on Earth and unable to return to help the Doctor. Her best friend could be dying and there was nothing she could do about it. She felt a soothing presence and settled down into some better dreams.

 **.oOo.**

 _The last person left The Library just minutes before when a nimbus of bright golden energy appeared in the shape of one Rose Tyler. Bad Wolf had a job to do. She had considered negotiating with them to act like a security system but discarded that idea. Time, ironically, was short. Looking with a far-off gaze into time and space, she selected a lush world that appeared it would never be inhabited and raised her arms causing golden light to spring up all over the planet. A moment later, the planet-wide glow faded, leaving only the maintenance droids moving about, and the Vashta Nerada on a new world to call home. She ensured the code wall with quarantine beacon would remain active and disappeared in a dissolving nimbus of light._

 **.oOo.**

 _Bad Wolf appeared in the base of Demons Run soon after River Song evacuated the rest of her friends. With a wave of her hands, the bodies vanished. With a sweeping motion, all but one of the headless monks were returned to the Church of the Papal Mainframe. She walked over to the controls and entered an auto-pilot course to move the base into another asteroid field near the headquarters of the Shadow Proclamation and adding a perception field generator to the main systems. Walking back out to the main floor, she put her hand on the shoulder of the one remaining headless figure, and both vanished._

 **.oOo.**

 _The sound of the TARDIS leaving could be heard as Bad Wolf appeared inside a cave, guiding a headless figure with her. As she approached an open box with a head inside it, the head spoke._

 _"_ _Who are you? How did you get my body?"_

 _"_ _I am the Bad Wolf," she replied and grinned as the head's eyes widened in realization._

 _"_ _But you're just a myth, a legend, told to those insane enough to attempt war on the Doctor."_

 _"_ _I offer you an exchange, Mr. Maldovar. The reunion of your head with your body, and lift back to your establishment."_

 _"_ _In exchange for…"_

 _"_ _Aid and shelter for myself and anyone with me or saying that I sent them, as well as any information you happen to hear about anyone looking for anything relating to a short list of people I will give you. To sweeten the deal, I'll even upgrade your media chip into something one of a kind with subspace capabilities and comm links to The Library and some other devices when they go active."_

 _"_ _That's a very attractive offer. What's the catch?"_

 _"_ _The catch is that for all my momentary power, there are some things which I cannot see so I have no way of being sure exactly when I may need to call on you."_

 _"_ _Very well, I accept your terms."_

 _Without another word, she picked up his head, placed it on the body, and held it around the neck area where here hands glowed golden for a moment, before fading to reveal a whole person once again. She then placed her hand on the top of his head. Another brief glow and his chip was upgraded and included the list of people she promised him. With a wave of her hand, he was transported back to his bar. She looked around the Seventh Trancept and considered if it might be useful for a moment, but quickly discarded the idea. In a blink, she was gone._

 **.oOo.**

 _The golden figure appeared in the main Torchwood Tower with a look of contempt and loathing on her face. This endeavor could have been so wonderful for the future. Closing her eyes, Bad Wolf focused on every piece of technology that wasn't vital to the timeline, particularly anything that could be catastrophically dangerous. All of it, from the sub-basements to the rooftop, glowed golden and disappeared to Demons Run._

 _Walking over to the wall that held the now-closed breach in the skin of the world, she placed her hands on the wall and poured energy into it, properly and completely sealing it for all time._

 _Stepping back, she blinked and was now in the sphere chamber. She didn't think it was possible to be surprised, but she was. The Void Ship was still there. Somehow, it didn't get sucked into the breach when the Doctor closed it. Then again, neither was the TARDIS. Resting a hand on it intent on vanishing The Dalek abomination, she was surprised to feel that it had very little Dalek technology connected to it._

 _Treading carefully as she made her way through the systems, Bad Wolf was surprised to find it was like the Genesis Arch, taken from the Time Lords. It was, in fact, a top-secret project that only a few from the Academy knew about, not even the High Council. She wondered how the Daleks managed to find it. Apparently, it was an experimental new TARDIS. She found the defect in the landing mechanisms and recalibrated it with an upgrade. As experimental as it was, it didn't even have a chameleon circuit yet. She added that and decided to make it programmable._

 _This was such an unexpected find, she decided to have some fun with the one of a kind void ship. Since the computer systems on it were already so advanced, she just fixed the flaws in it and increased its already impressively powerful core. It would no longer punch a hole, so to speak, but rather gracefully slide between moments and decisions, leaving no damage or leaking dimensions like what happened with Torchwood. Lastly, she fixed the navigation system. The ship would still have to add new info for each reality as it went to, but it now had one very special reality added to it, and a perfectly set 'HOME RETURN' option that would take it to Demons Run unless reprogrammed to a different home setting._

 _Bad Wolf was running out of time and had to return soon, but had time enough for one last fundamental adjustment. This ship, like later models of TARDIS, was engineered to basically have less personality, 'less willful' the Time Lords had said. That was part of what made the Doctor's TARDIS so special though. She unbound the living aspect of the ship, and carefully breathed a little bit of golden energy through the opening and into the console. This should make her like a daughter to the Doctor's TARDIS, and they would always have a link to each other._

 _With a wiggle of her finger, Bad Wolf activated the home return option and watched it dematerialize before her on its way to Demons Run to complete the new integration._

 _With such an amazing and unexpected find like that, her time now was very short. She decided to leave some of the easier tasks for later when Rose alone could handle them, and move on to her last stop._

 _Blinking out again, she reappeared outside Torchwood Four, a large nondescript warehouse in Belfast. This place held some of the most advanced technology that Canary Warf wouldn't be able to look at for some time, as well as some of the most unimaginable horrors the Earth has ever seen. Things the human race, or others, should never get their hands on._

 _With a gesture, she sent it all to Demons Run. It was rather amusing to see the personnel suddenly all on alert. Most of these people though, were as bad as those at the Tower, and so she decided to add insult to injury._

 _Bad Wolf waved one hand, and all the decent and less evil people found themselves in the street. The building itself, and the truly unredeemable within, with another hand gesture, simply disappeared._

 _"_ _Let's see them puzzle over that," she thought with a chuckle._

 **.oOo.**

Rose and Clara both woke with a start and wide eyes. They were each a bit shocked to see the other had woken as well.

"Did you…" they started in unison.

"You too?" they each said again.

"But… why me as well? You did all of that. It was all Bad Wolf," Clara asked in shock.

"No," Rose responded. "It was The Impossible Wolf. Without the Impossible Girl already saving the Doctor, the Bad Wolf would never have had time to do all of that."

After a moment that they spent just considering the ramifications of this new information, Rose realized something. "When did you come in here?"

Clara blushed prettily and checked her wrist. "Almost two hours ago. Sounded like you were having a nightmare."

"Oh, good," Rose said with a yawn. "That means there's more time to sleep."

Clara nodded and made to head back to her own room when Rose put her arms around her and gently pulled her back down. They smiled at each other and Clara kissed the tip of Rose's nose as she cuddled into her and they both drifted off to sleep.

 **.oOo.**

"Jack," Rose started as they were all finishing their breakfast, "do you need us for anything today?"

"I was actually thinking of just relaxing, maybe catching a movie or something, since we're basically done with training now."

"Alright. I just needed to know if you needed either of us back in time for anything. I need to steal Clara away for a while."

Jack smirked at them. "You kids have fun."

Clara blushed slightly and Rose playfully smacked Jack on the arm before she left with Clara.

As they walked towards the console room, Clara realized she'd forgotten something. "Hang on, I forgot to give this back to you yesterday." She reached to pull the TARDIS key from around her neck when Rose placed her hand over Clara's.

"Keep it," Rose said softly with warmth in her voice. "At least until we're ready to replace it with something else," she completed with a bright blush.

Clara smiled at her, with a blush of her own, and took Rose's hand in her own as they completed their journey to the console room.

Once there, Rose spotted what they were looking for. On the console were two pairs of stylish glasses with moderately thick frames. "Oh, there they are," Rose said as she tried on a pair and was immediately impressed. "Alright then, time for a test. Call the TARDIS."

A second later a hologram of Rose appeared next to Clara and Rose staggered a bit, not from the double vision itself, but that it was not double vision of the same area. Rose took the glasses off and smiled at Clara.

"I think those will do very nicely," Clara said with a smirk as she grabbed the other pair. "Can't wait to see their faces!"

 **.oOo.**

With an intense blast of blinding light and a crack like splitting lumber, the two appeared in an older style living room.

"What the hell was that?!" a lightly Scottish accented female voice could be heard running down the stairs to the living room.

"Here's an idea," a male voice replied sarcastically, "How about we go down and find out."

As the two ran into the room from around the staircase, Clara spoke up. "Hello, Nina. Amy, how do you manage to snog him around that nose?"

"Oswin?" they both asked in shock before Amy added, "Rose?"

Rose was a bit confused. She knew Amy from when she was looking through the Doctor's timeline, but didn't remember actually meeting her. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

"No, but I've seen a picture of you in…" Amy stopped suddenly, wondering if this might be Rose before she knew the Doctor, but she was with Oswin who obviously did know them.

"Ah, the TARDIS visual records. That would make sense."

"Hold on," Rory broke in. "How can Oswin be here? She was a Dalek," he said glancing at Clara.

"Well, we're not here to exterminate you if that's what you're afraid of," Clara responded. "And it's a long story, but my name isn't really Oswin, at least not anymore. I'm Clara."

"Not anymore? Are you Time Lords like the Doctor?" Amy asked in confusion.

Rose and Clara smiled at each other, trying not to laugh. "Nope," Rose started.

"Humans, both of us," Clara continued.

"Plus, a little something extra," Rose concluded.

"But the Doctor said he could never see us again because of all the paradoxes," Amy told them, still quite confused as to how they had a couple time travelers standing in their living room.

"That's mostly accurate, unfortunately. It's rather complicated and has to do with his TARDIS in relation to the paradoxes," Clara informed them.

"Then, how are you both here?" Rory asked. He was just as confused as his wife.

Rose lifted her sleeve to show her wrist computer and decided to give them a little something to smile about. "Vortex manipulator. Cheap and nasty time travel. Very bad for you. I'm trying to give it up."

"But what about the paradoxes? The Doctor and Melody both said one more paradox would wipe out New York," Amy spoke. She really didn't want that to happen.

Rose again gestured to her wrist. "Specially made. These can slip in between the paradoxes like a fish swimming through the water. A trait, I might add, that has been added to River's own device, though she doesn't know it yet."

"Unfortunately, if you were to leave this time zone, so to speak, it would still add to the paradox pool and case a lot of damage," Clara added sadly.

"Then why come here at all?" Amy asked. It seemed a bit cruel to her.

"To give you these," Rose and Clara said in unison as they pulled out the glasses the TARDIS made for them and handed them to the former companions.

"Gift from the TARDIS. You'll never need real glasses with these," Clara said.

"Think of them like a little computer with a holographic link to the TARDIS and a few other features you can discover after you go through the instruction manuals," Rose told them.

"And after River visits, they will also let you communicate with her vortex manipulator to talk to her anytime you want," Clara finished.

Amy and Rory accepted the gifts with stunned expressions as they tried them on. After some brief instructions from Rose, they tested them out.

 **.oOo.**

Jack was on his way back from the kitchen to the media room when he heard a beeping noise from a side panel as he passed through the console room. It had been a long time since he helped the Doctor do any work on the TARDIS, but he was pretty sure it was a communication system of some type and thought maybe Rose was trying to get in contact, so he flipped the switch and suddenly holograms of two strangers appeared causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Whoa! They work. Are you the Doctor?" the redhead asked.

"Sorry, he's not in right now," Jack started, and then put on a charming grin. "Maybe I can help you, Red. Captain Jack Harkness at your service."

"Hey!" the man exclaimed. "That's my wife!"

Jack could hear the laughter of Rose and Clara in the background and knew something was up, be he decided he might as well play along and sat down to have a chat.

 **.oOo.**

The new couple appeared on a rooftop of the Powel Estate, and Rose looked around nervously.

"What's up?" Clara asked, not sure what could make her Rose nervous so suddenly.

"I should have thought to talk to you about this before we left this morning," she said, sounding more nervous with each word.

"Rose, Luv, what is it?"

"D'you…" Rose started, before taking a deep calming breath. "Do you wanna come and meet my mum?"

Clara smiled, now totally understanding her nervousness. "Do you want to tell her about us?"

Rose nodded, not sure what else to say.

"Well, come on then. Let's go," Clara told her enthusiastically. Truthfully, she was quite nervous herself about meeting her girlfriend's family, especially since the relationship was so new. But she wanted to be there for Rose.

Rose smiled gratefully at her, and then tapped a button on her wrist, calling her mother.

"Hello?" she heard her mother say.

"Hi, Mum. Do you remember our conversation on New Year's?"

Jackie paused for a minute before replying. "You mean when I called you?"

Rose smiled, her mum was smarter than she usually gave her credit for. "No, I mean when I told you to make that call to prove where I was."

"Strangest conversation of my life, of course I remember."

Rose laughed at that. "Are you alone in the flat right now?"

"I am, d'you wanna come over?"

"Yes, and I'm bringing company. Can you sit in the chair next to the telly?"

"That's where I am sitting, sweetheart. What's goin' on? Hello? Hello?"

After a bright flash of light, Rose and Clara were standing in front of the sofa and Rose rushed over to hug her mum as the phone was hung up.

"Oh, I'm glad you remembered to drop in, sweetheart. How are you?"

Rose released her hug on her mum and sat down with Clara on the sofa. "I'm well and happy, Mum," she said with a brilliant smile.

"Is this your friend that you've gone traveling with then?"

"Not exactly," Rose said. "He's called The Doctor, but well tell you about him in a minute. Right now, there is something else I need to tell you."

"Go on then," her mum said.

"Do you remember I told you that something happened that made it impossible for me to see you again after a certain point?"

"Yeah. That's why you're visiting during this year."

"Well, something else happened since then that might, I'm not sure yet but _might,_ make it possible again."

"Well, that's good then. But why do you seem so nervous about that?"

"Because," Rose started, and took a deep breath, "I'm not sure about that possibility yet and I don't want to get your hopes up about it yet. But also, because that's not what we're really here to tell you about."

Jackie's eyebrow raised high at that, wondering what could possibly have her daughter so nervous, and why her friend hadn't said anything yet. She remained silent to let Rose collect her thoughts. When she saw the girl with her entwine her hand with her daughter's in a show of support, and her daughter turn to the girl with a supremely grateful smile, she started to understand.

Rose turned back to her mother. "Mum, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Clara."

 **.oOo.**

Several hours later, they returned to the TARDIS to find Jack howling with laughter as the holograms of Amy and Rory were telling him stories of their time with the Doctor.

"So, that's how Manton got his nickname," Jack said between laughs. "He tried to apply to the Time Agency while I was working there. When doing a background check, we discovered he'd been thrown out of the Church and branded as 'Colonel Runaway' and stopped right there. He was furious when they told him his application had been denied and that he should run away."

Rose and Clara chuckled and waved as they walked by on their way to the kitchen. It had been a pleasant few hours with Jackie, but Rose was still emotionally drained and they both needed something to eat and a bit of time to relax.

After making some sandwiches and taking them to their spot in the garden, Rose couldn't stop herself from asking a question that had been plaguing her since it was brought up by Jackie.

"Clara, do you think your folks would be able to keep our secret?"

She looked startled at that and she became quite sad thinking about her parents. "Probably. It's the sort of thing my mum would think was a great adventure. But, she died, and Dad's been like an empty shell since then."

"What if there was a way to save her? Do you think they would be able to leave Earth behind to save the timelines?

Clara looked at Rose in shock. Was she really suggesting that she had a way to do something like that and still make time not change? "Honestly, I don't know. I'd like to think so. Why are you asking?"

"Well, think about it. All those Impossible Wolf memories unlocked in our dreams for a reason. We have our own Void Ship TARDIS, Demons Run that we can use as sort of a base or whatever, and all that tech. I know there is tech that Bad Wolf sent there that could help pull this off if you want."

Clara nibbled absently on her sandwich, not really paying attention to her surroundings as she was deep in thought now. She took a drink of her juice before looking at her love intently, knowing there was something else she was thinking about too.

"What else are you thinking about with this idea?"

"Well, I don't like the idea that I can still see my family and you can't. I was thinking, if we are really going to make use of Demons Run, why not go all out, ya know? We could do all sorts of things with it, including making it a home away from home for certain people. Including your folks… and maybe the Doctor as well."

Clara's eyes widened at all the possible implications and Rose continued.

"I think that it will be hard for the Doctor to accept that we are capable of not destroying ourselves or the universe with what we have been given. If, however, we have a home base of sorts and explain everything we've done between the raven and rescuing him, he might think twice. He might even be willing to help us and teach us. Besides, it would be nice to offer him someplace to be a home away from Gallifrey."

"What's does all that have to do with my parents?"

"Well, it could be a new start for them. They could help out and still be part of your life and sometimes go on adventures with us so they don't regret leaving Earth," Rose told her timidly.

Clara's eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she realized that Rose wasn't simply trying to save her parents, but trying to give her back her sense of family. She threw her arms around Rose's neck and pulled her in for a passionate kiss before hugging her tightly and letting her tears spill.

"That is possibly the most thoughtful idea I've ever heard!" Clara exclaimed as she choked out a happy sob and held Rose close.

 **.oOo.**

Rose, Clara, and Jack appeared in the control room of Demons Run a few days later. Jack did a slow turn looking around at everything in the control room and the main hanger area out the main window and let out a low appreciative whistle.

"Wow! Impossible Wolf indeed! You girls sure don't do anything by half, do you?"

Rose gave him that cheeky grin of hers. "D'you like it?"

"Like it?" Jack stared at her in disbelief. "This is candy land!"

Clara laughed at his enthusiasm. "How about you go look for some of those gadgets we discussed while Rose and I go check out the ship."

"Gadgets," he said with a shake of his head as he walked towards the door. "Some of the most advanced technology the galaxy has ever seen, and she calls them gadgets."

The girls both laughed at him as they followed him out of the control room and veered off down a different corridor to the ship that would eventually become their home. After a few minutes walking in silence, they entered the room to find a sight that had them both gob smacked.

Where they were expecting to find the rather generic looking metal sphere it had been, instead they found it to be the same shape as the Doctor's TARDIS. That's where the similarities ended, however. Instead of being a blue wooden box with white trim and a white light on the top, they found a black box that looked to be made of some type of metal and stone mix with purple trim and top light. Gone was the little phone door with instructions, and where it would have had the words 'Police Public Call Box' it had instead just the words 'Snog Box' above the doors.

Clara recovered first and doubled over laughing while Rose just stared at it with her jaw hanging open in shock. After several seconds, Rose finally cracked a smile and held her hand out to the girl she was falling deeply in love with.

"Care to see inside the Snog Box?" she asked while wiggling her fingers playfully at Clara.

Taking the offered hand with a laugh and a nod, they both stepped forward and with a hand on each door, pushed them both open and stepped inside.

As they stepped in, lights and controls started lighting up. They were rather thankful that the inside again looked very much like the main console room of the Doctor's TARDIS, though this time the color differences were subtler. There was black and purple inside to match the outside, but the most noticeable difference was the central rotor. Rather than the green or orange or golden colors they had seen before, the rotor now had inside of it several glowing purple tubes surrounded by black and purple clouds of energy crackling periodically with lightning, that ran the entire height of the console room's three-floor layout.

"Oh!" they both exclaimed in unison. "Aren't you a beauty!"

As if to respond, one of the panels that Clara recognized as the telepathic interface began pulsating with a gold and purple light. The walked over to it, glanced at each other, and then placed their hands on it. Immediately they both heard a voice in their minds.

" _Hello, my lovelies. How is it you have come to bond with me but I sense no Time Lord near?_ "

They were both surprised to hear the ship speak to them so plainly, but quickly focused on their memories of the Doctor, his TARDIS, their lives and travels with him, and especially their memories of the Impossible Girl and the Bad Wolf.

" _Wonderful! I'm so glad that my sister TARDIS and her Thief are well. It seems these changes made to you with the help of my sister are what make you able to bond with me. Unlike the Time Lords, however, you do not have a connection to the time vortex._ "

They each felt a jolt of energy run through them and tried to pull away, but found they could not.

" _Most intriguing._ "

" _What's intriguing? Why won't you let us go?_ " Rose asked with her mind.

" _Do not fear, my lovelies, I will not harm you. I just had to be sure. You are connected instead, like me, with the Nexus, like the Eternals of old._ "

Rose and Clara looked at each other in confusion. That was something neither of them had ever heard of in all their travels with the Doctor, or even in their time as the Impossible Girl or the Bad Wolf.

" _You are not finished though. The Impossible Wolf is not complete yet._ "

With that, the doors closed, that wonderful wheezing and groaning sound filled the console room, and the central rotor rose and fell in time with it. They were dematerializing!

" _What's going on?! Why are we leaving?_ " Rose asked in a slight panic.

" _The Bad Wolf started you both on a wonderful journey, but you are not complete yet. The Nexus is the source of the Time Vortices, which exist in each reality. It is the source of those realities, and of imagination and emotion and possibility. It is to the Nexus we now travel to teach you and complete your transformation._ "

 **.oOo.**

Jack had just finished setting up the equipment they would need, ironically, in the same room where Amy had been kept while she had been on Demons Run. He checked the scanner to ensure it was just waiting for a sample, and then shut everything down for the time being.

He walked back out into the main hanger where he was supposed to meet the girls and started looking through some of the other equipment that might be useful, when he heard a sound he thought he might never hear again.

When he heard that wheezing, groaning sound, he turned around to see a black and purple Snog Box materializing against the wall! When Rose and Clara stepped out, he was stunned. Not much was different, but enough to notice. Rose's hair was no longer bleached blonde, but instead was now its natural dirty blonde with honey-colored highlights to match her eyes. Both girl's hair was several inches longer, and they were both wearing long coats, similar to his in length, but black with dark purple trim. In a word, they were _sexy_!

"Wow, Jack! You've really cleaned this place up!" Clara said with glee.

"Actually," Jack corrected her. "It was all sorted and organized already. Even labeled. I'm guessing the work of Bad Wolf when she sent it all here. Nice jackets and hair by the way. How long have you been gone?"

"About a century," Rose replied with a smirk.

"A CENTURY!?"

"We have a lot to catch you up on, Jack," Clara told him with a laugh.

 **.oOo.**

Rose and Clara spent the next few hours going over everything with Jack, all about their time with and becoming Eternals, or Ancients as they used to be called. They told him about how the Time Lords came to be, about TARDISes and the multiverse, but most importantly, about the change in plans for their upcoming rescues.

"And you're sure you want to scrap the idea of bringing your folks here?" Jack asked Clara.

Clara nodded at him. "It was an overly selfish desire of mine to bring them here, Jack. Things are going to be so crazy for at least a while."

Jack looked at her with understanding. It was a supremely difficult decision to make. "Yeah," he said with sorrow touching his voice. "I came to the same decision about Ianto while I was pulling out equipment."

Rose gave him a soft, sad smile at that. She knew his relationship with Ianto had been born of circumstance rather than desire. "I am going to be reducing contact with my family as well so they get used to the idea of me not being around. But when we go, it will not be forever. I have something for you here, Jack. Let me see that Vortex Manipulator of yours."

Rose took the offered manipulator and set it down on a table. She then pulled one just like her own out of a pocket and set it next to Jack's. She then pulled out her sonic and ran it over both of them before handing the new one over to Jack.

"This one now has a copy of everything from your old one," she told him. She then pointed her sonic at the old one, it exploded in a puff of smoke and shower of sparks.

"Hey!" he exclaimed in an agitated voice. "What was that for?"

"Your old one was prototype technology. Even with the upgrade I gave it, it still did not have most of the safety protocols that your new one has. It was actually a danger to the universe because of that. It had no paradox prevention abilities at all."

"The Time Agency is going to be dismantled," Clara told him. "Its data core will be moved here. Torchwood will be reborn and become an official division of the Shadow Proclamation. Until then, it will be headquartered here, and we'd like _you_ to run it."

"And that's just the beginning," Rose said.

 **.oOo.**


	8. Chapter 8: Reunions, Interventions, and

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** Spoiler alert! Enter the Doctor! And a handful of cameos as well. Here is the first step in really preparing for crossing over. Sorry for the slightly rushed and cheesy parts, but again, this story overall is supposed to focus mostly on Rose and Clara. I said in the very first A/N in chapter one that this story is meant for fans with an understanding of series 1-9. What I forgot to mention was that there are a few little nuggets from Classic Who as well. If you don't understand them, I suggest that you google for Doctor Who stuff about the White Guardian as well as Eternals just to have a tiny bit of understanding about them if they cause you any confusion. They are not actually all that important to the story, more mentioned in passing, but if you don't get the references and want to, that's my suggestion for you.

 ** _Chapter 8: Reunions, Interventions, and Plans_**

Sarah-Jane Smith was just clearing up for the day after another mystery was solved. The fact that the people disappearing from the streets was _not_ of alien origin was what surprised her the most. But, at least the whack-job that was experimenting on people for his own gain had been stopped. She was just walking to the door when Mr. Smith called out for her.

"Sarah-Jane, I am detecting a temporal disturbance building right here."

Before the intelligent computer could say anymore, she heard that lovely sound and a wind blew up around the room. She watched in hope but also a little concern as a familiar blue box materialized before her.

Rather than waiting, she opened the door and stepped inside to find another surprise. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen, and instead Rose was at the controls.

"Hello, Sarah-Jane," Rose greeted her with a bright smile.

"Rose? What's going on? How are you flying the TARDIS? Where's the Doctor?"

"There's a lot to tell you, and a lot of people to tell it to. But of more immediate concern is that the Doctor needs your help and doesn't even know it. Will you come with us?"

"Of course, just let me go tell Luke and Mr. Smith in case we don't get back quite in time."

 **.oOo.**

Donna was walking up the hill with her grandfather after a nice meal with her family. She and Shaun had just gotten back for a wonderful month-long honeymoon and were planning to go house shopping tomorrow.

She sat down with him and was sipping some hot cocoa when she heard something she had not heard in a long time. She and Wilf both looked on in shock as that magnificent blue box appeared next to them. The doors opened to reveal Rose and Clara stepping out.

"Hello, Donna. Good to see you again," Rose said giving the fiery redhead a hug.

"And you," she replied. "But what's going on? Where's the Doctor?"

"We told you there was a lot to explain and that we would after your honeymoon," Clara started. "But some things have changed. We're still going to tell you everything, and a lot more to be perfectly honest. But the Doctor needs your help. Do you want to go for a ride?" she concluded with a smirk.

Donna turned back to hug her grandfather. "If I'm not back soon, Gramps, tell Shaun that I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You just be safe, sweetheart."

"She will be," Rose assure him. "The Doctor needs some old friends to give him a good swift kick though."

 **.oOo.**

Micky and Martha were clearing up from dinner when they heard the sound they thought they would never hear again filling their kitchen. When the Doctor had stopped that Sontaran from killing them, it seemed like he was saying goodbye. But here was his TARDIS materializing, in their kitchen of all places.

When all was settled, the door opened and Rose stepped out, pulling Micky into a hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

Micky was a bit shocked by that but returned the hug. "You too, but what are you doing here? I thought you were in the other universe. Where's the Doctor?"

"And why are you hugging my husband?" Marth asked half-jokingly.

"Oh, come here you!" Rose said as she released Micky and pulled his wife into a surprise hug. "Don't you worry, I was just hugging my friend," Rose said. "I don't think my wife would appreciate if I tried anything more than that."

"What?!" they both asked in confusion. "I thought… but the Doctor was so mopey when you were gone. I thought you and him were a thing," Martha said.

"Nope," Rose said as she released Martha and took a step back. "It's a long story and we'll tell it soon, but for now, the Doctor needs your help. Will you come?"

Martha and Micky looked at each other for a moment, before looking back to Rose. "Let's go."

 **.oOo.**

A small shuttlecraft was floating in space about fifty light years away from the nearest star port. The pilot was checking through supplies and muttering to herself.

"Of all the times to run out of fuel."

Finally giving up on finding any type of emergency fuel reserve, she sat back down in the cockpit, pondering what to do next, when she heard the strangest sound ever coming from the cargo hold.

She ran the short distance from the cockpit to the main cargo hold and was shocked to see a blue box there. A moment later, the doors opened and two people stepped out.

Her eyes went wide. "Donna? Martha? What are you doing here? Is Dad with you?"

"Oh… My… God!" Donna said with a shocked expression.

"Well, you didn't think Rose would lie about Jenny, did you?" Martha asked.

"What's going on?" Jenny asked, completely confused.

"Sorry, Jenny, but the Doctor isn't here right now. He's even regenerated a few times since you saw him so he looks completely different now, but we can explain that later. Your Dad needs some help. Will you come with us?" Donna asked her.

"Are you kidding? What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

 **.oOo.**

Madame Vastra was taking a stroll through the city just enjoying a brief respite from all the usual goings on and mysteries that usually needed solving, when she heard it. Continuing her path, she eventually turned down an alley and saw it.

As she approached the Police Box, she couldn't help but ask aloud, "Well, now, what have you gotten yourself into this time, Doctor."

When the door opened however, the Doctor did not emerge, instead she was greeted by Miss Oswald looking as serious as she had ever seen her.

"Hello, Madame Vastra, it's good to see you again."

"Likewise, but I suspect you're not here for a social call?"

"Not exactly, no. But there is too much to explain right now. You can explain to Jenny and Strax after we're finished. For now, will you help the Doctor?"

Vastra looked carefully at Clara for a few moments, as if evaluating her again. Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

"So, the Impossible Wolf has come at last then?" Vasta asked.

Clara almost choked in shock. "H-how do you know about that?"

"There are many worlds that have seers and prophecies. My people, before we set to slumber, had such a prophecy. It was said that the Impossible Wolf was the herald of hope, rebirth, and healing."

"Now, that _is_ spooky. Just when I thought I couldn't be surprised anymore. I should have known better. That doesn't answer my question, though."

"That fact that you even had to ask it is almost insulting," Vastra said with a slight smirk. "Lead the way."

 **.oOo.**

River watched as the Doctor and others left the graveyard of Trenzalore. It was killing her, pretending to be a hologram, but she knew she had to keep up the act. Sometimes she thought she took the laws of time travel more seriously than the Doctor.

She checked over the message in her vortex manipulator again, wondering just how long she was supposed to wait there and decided to take off the space suit since she wasn't going back to the library.

Moments later, she heard the most wonderful sound in the universe and turned to see the TARDIS materializing before her.

 **.oOo.**

Ohila sat there as the Doctor and the General left for an extraction chamber. Something was wrong with that idea. Why would he need to use an extraction chamber to get information about the hybrid? There was something she was missing, and that was something she didn't like.

As High Priestess, she was used to having all, or at least most, of the information relating to any crisis. She stood to follow after them when she heard a sound she never expected to hear.

She turned around to see the Doctor's TARDIS materializing before her very eyes and a young lady stepped out looking straight at her.

Clara knew this was going to be the most difficult person to convince and decided to cut right to the chase. She and Rose had been given very clear instructions for this one.

"Ohila, High Priestess of the Sisterhood of Karn, Keeper of the Flame of Eternal Life, Emissary of the _Ancient Ones_ ," Ohila's eyes became wide as saucers in shock. No one knew of the Ancients Ones, those from whom the Eternals became. Even the Time Lord's only had a few legends about them, whispers and fairy stories. "You are called forth to save and help in the healing of this shard of creation and perhaps the whole. Do you accept?"

Clara knew that this had to be a choice and could not be forced on any of the keepers. She only hoped this one would make the right decision.

After a moment to get over her shock, and confer mentally with others of The Sisterhood, she stepped forward, "The Sisterhood _accepts_ the responsibility laid before us."

Clara's eyes flared purple for a moment before settling back to her normal brown. "Your word is bound. Please, come with us."

 **.oOo.**

The Doctor stared at the extraction portal as it closed and sealed itself with a brief flash of golden light, and a memory struck him of a girl that could shine with that same gold.

" _You know the sound the TARDIS makes? That wheezing, groaning? That sound brings hope, wherever it goes._ "

" _Yes. Yes, I like to think it does._ "

" _To anyone who hears it, Doctor. Anyone, however lost. Even you._ "

But that happened lifetimes ago, why would that pop into his mind now, of all times.

"Doctor," the General began, "if Miss Oswald was correct, if she was part of the hybrid, and she _chose_ to protect us, to protect _you_ from it, do not mourn her. To do so would be the highest insult to her memory."

The Doctor spun around to face the General, seething in anger, wanting to rage against him. Who was he to speak of her sacrifice? What _right_ did he have to even mention her name?!

The General held the Doctor's gaze. He would not back down from this. He was about to continue when he saw the Doctor's eyes go wide in shock. It was barely a second later when he realized why as the sound of a TARDIS materializing could be heard building.

They both turned to look, dumbstruck, as the Doctor's blue Police Box dissolved into form before them. When the door opened and Clara stepped out, the Doctor's jaw fell open and his hearts soared that his friend wasn't as dead as he thought she was. But what happened? And how was she able to fly the TARDIS?

Clara smiled brightly and winked at him. "Hello, Doctor, General. Lovely morning, isn't it? What do you say we take a stroll in the TARDIS and have a bit of food for thought? This morning's specials are questions and answers. Yummy combination. Come on then, in you pop."

Clara walked back in, leaving the door open and stepped up to the console. The Doctor and the General looked at each other in confusion, before following her. As soon as the doors shut behind them, Clara pulled a lever and the TARDIS flew away into the Time Vortex.

The Doctor, not used to being so speechless, finally found his voice. "Clara, what are you doing?"

"I should think that's obvious," she replied with a cheeky grin. "Rescuing you."

"But you just stepped back to your final moments, _willingly_ I might add. How can you be here?" the General asked her, confusion evident on his face.

"As far as history is concerned," she told them as she leaned against the console looking at them, "Clara Oswald died on Trap Street. Was not a fun experience, I can tell you that."

The Doctor rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug before releasing her. "What happened to you? How are you still alive?"

"And why did you say you were part of the hybrid?" the General added as he watched them both.

"Because she is," Rose said from the catwalk above the doors.

The Doctor spun around so fast, Rose was afraid he might give himself whiplash.

"You!" the Doctor exclaimed. "You can't be here! The raven isn't the end you told me. Wait to be rescued from the extraction chamber, you told me. But that was just a moment of you possessing Rose back on her timeline. How can you be here, now?"

"I also told you that bowties are cool," Rose said with a smirk as she walked around the catwalk and sat down on the stairs closest to Clara. "The Matrix of the Time Lords foretells a prophecy about the hybrid, yeah?"

"It is said," the General spoke up before the Doctor could respond, "that it will stand in the ruins of Gallifrey. It will unravel the web of time and destroy a billion billion hearts to heal its own."

"And what did you say was at risk, General," Clara began, "if the Doctor tried to change my death?"

A look of horror dawned on his face as the realization struck him. "That time itself could fracture." It had almost happened with him as a witness.

"Funny thing about prophecies," Rose started after everyone had a moment to let these realizations sink in, "they tend to exist for one of two reasons. Either to give hope or to be prevented. Either way, they never make sense until after they have passed."

"If you're suggesting that Clara and I together would be the hybrid, then how was this prevented if she's still alive?" the Doctor asked with a note of anguish in his voice. He had lost his dearest friend when he lost Rose, and again when he had to send her back to the other Earth, now, here was Bad Wolf, mocking him with the form of Rose and suggesting that Clara still had to die. He couldn't lose someone that close to him again.

"Clara," Rose looked at her. "My best friend, the Doctor I traveled with, was much more clever than that. Why'd you let him get so thick?"

"I think it's the gray seeping from his hair into his brain," Clara said with a chuckle.

"You found another way to prevent the prophecy," the Doctor said, ignoring the jibes.

"Now you're gettin' it. Bad Wolf saw another prophecy, an older prophecy. It told of the hybrid as an either or combination. It could either lead to the destruction of time, or it could save time and start it healing. It depended on the decision of the common One of either of the hybrids of prophecy. An impossible choice for the Impossible Girl."

The Doctor frowned at that. There was something he was missing. Where was this other hybrid then if Bad Wolf was telling them of its prophecy? How was Bad Wolf even here to tell them this? Rose didn't have a timeline in this universe to this point for Bad Wolf to superimpose itself onto… unless…

The Doctor's eyes widened again in realization. "Rose?" he asked quietly in disbelief.

Rose smiled at him but Clara quipped, "Give the man a medal!"

"But you went with the metacrisis, you're supposed to be in a different universe. How are you here?"

"It's simple, really. I left that universe shortly after you did. I had put before myself a task and rather than run from it, I embraced it."

"That was you, wasn't it? That came to see me while I was regenerating? But how, I took that power of Bad Wolf out of you."

"Because, Doctor, that power was _not_ the Bad Wolf. It was just a few minutes of time where I had nearly unlimited power to ensure my task could be completed."

"That doesn't make any sense! You are Rose Tyler! We were best friends. I should have known if you were something more than just a human."

"That was then. What was it you told Clara? _'Times change, and so must I.'_ That's true."

"The other hybrid," the Doctor whispered.

Rose stood and walked over to Clara. "I _am_ the Bad Wolf," she said, her eyes flaring golden for a moment before fading.

"And _I_ am the Impossible Girl," Clara said as her eyes flashed deep red briefly.

Rose took Clara's hand in her own and they both turned to face the Doctor and the General. As they spoke in unison, their eyes flared with a purple energy. "We are the Impossible Wolf. We chose to create ourself, to save the Doctor, his universe, and Time itself."

The energy in their eyes faded, and Rose spoke to the flabbergasted Time Lords. "By Clara and I joining, so to speak, we have been able to save you, Doctor, over and over again. And you, in turn, have saved the universe many times over. When the Earth was stolen, you saved _ALL_ the universes. Did you really think that wouldn't get noticed?"

"And while you can't do it all alone," Clara said softly, "you can't do something like fracture time just to save one person."

"But, I have a duty of care," the Doctor told her.

"And you do an amazing job of that, Doctor, but you also need to accept that your companions have some responsibility themselves. Accidents will happen, danger is a part of life, and sacrifices can be made by more than just you," she replied.

"But it hurts so much, constantly losing people, usually to death," the Doctor said with pain in his voice.

"That's why you shouldn't push us away," Sarah-Jane said as she walked up the steps from the lower portion of the console room.

"We know what can happen when you're on your own for too long, Doctor," Donna said as she walked up from a different set of stairs.

"Even if we think you've abandon us, we're still here for you," Jack said coming in from yet another staircase.

"Even when you don't _know_ we're still around, Dad," Jenny said as she walked up from the steps directly behind him and hugged him from behind.

"Even when you think you don't want us around," Martha said as she came into view.

"Even if you think some of us are idiots, Boss," Micky said with a smirk as he walked in behind Martha.

"Even if we don't always agree with you, Doctor," Vastra said as she walked up one of the staircases.

"Even if our timelines don't always synch up, Sweetie," River said as she walked around from the other side of the time rotor and flipped a display switch on the communications panel.

Amy and Rory's holograms appeared in front of the Doctor's shocked form. "Even if we can't physically swat you upside the head when you need it, Doctor," Rory said.

"Even though nothing ever seems certain," Amy told him, "we're still your family."

"And your best friends," Rose added with a smile and misty eyes.

"And we don't run out on the people we care about, Doctor," Clara concluded.

The Doctor was absolutely, totally, speechless at this display. The Bad Wolf had shown him what his life looked like from the outside, to those that he helped save. The Impossible Girl had shown that he was worth making sacrifices for, which is why he nearly destroyed time trying to save her. And now, the Impossible Wolf showed him that he had a supportive family to fall back on if times really got tough. He still had no words, so he just pulled Jenny around and into a proper hug.

"You should listen to them, boy. There is wisdom here that even my long years have sorely missed," Ohila said as she walked up from one of the staircases.

Clara snickered at her before pulling Rose over to the Doctor so they could both join the hug with him and Jenny.

"Lord President," the General started after a few minutes of silence. He was glad that the Doctor had been brought back from the brink, and that the hybrid was no longer a possible threat, but still had questions. "What of Gallifrey?"

"Actually," Clara said as she walked back to the controls and began the landing sequence.

"We have an idea about that," Rose finished for her as they landed.

 **.oOo.**

The TARDIS materialized in the corner of a conference room in the new Torchwood. Around the table were many comfortable chairs and as everyone filed out of the TARDIS people started sitting in them. Rose and Clara were at one end, Jack and the General took the other end, while everyone else took whatever free spaces were available.

"Welcome to Torchwood," Jack said.

"Formerly known as Demons Run," Rose clarified.

"What about the monks?" the Doctor inquired.

"Sent back to the Papal Mainframe before the asteroid was moved," Clara answered.

"Moved? Where are we then?" he just kept getting hit by surprise after surprise today.

Jack pressed a button on his wrist computer and a hologram appeared in the middle of the table showing the asteroid field in which they were currently situated, with the Shadow Proclamation next door.

"Perception filter?" the Doctor asked. "Hiding right under their noses?"

"Glad to see that keen mind of yours is functioning at full tilt again, Doctor," Rose said with a smile and a nod.

"We hope that eventually, Torchwood will become an official division of the Shadow Proclamation, at which time we will move in there and this base will be sent to the Medusa Cascade to keep a monitor on the rift there," Jack informed them all.

"But what is the point of this new Torchwood?" the Doctor asked. He seemed genuinely curious, but his voice was still laced with a tone of concern.

"Time is sick, Doctor," Rose started. "The Time War did more damage than anyone could have realized. And while the Time Lords are not innocent in that, the Daleks were the greater threat in that."

"Using paradoxes as weapons certainly did you no favors though," Clara said with a glance at the General.

"The universe, in fact, time itself, has nearly imploded several times now, such as the Time War, Canary Warf, the Pandorica Incident, but most notably was the Reality Bomb that nearly destroyed _all_ of the universes and the whole of the multiverse itself," Rose told them seriously.

"All of which was stopped by you, Doctor, and those close to you," Clara said.

Everyone sat in stunned silence as the magnitude of what they were discussing washed over them. How precarious must the situation be now?

"What can be done?" the General asked simply.

"You, General," Rose began, "along with Ohila, can help the Doctor to reshape the society of the Time Lords into something more like what it used to be, but perhaps with a little more flexibility."

"And you, Doctor," Clara continued for her, "can take up the role of Lord President properly this time. Yes, still travel with friends and people you come to call family, but you have a Time Machine… go back to soon after you left from time to time and keep being the President and shaping your world."

"Gallifrey needs to heal just as much as Time itself," they said in unison.

"In the meantime," Jack picked up, "the Time Agency has been dismantled and moved here, as has the Justice Department. They will be reformed as components of Torchwood and work on smaller scale time issues where individuals or small teams or a single ship would be most efficient."

"Doctor," Rose spoke softly. "You were doing it all alone for such a long time. Let Torchwood handle the smaller scale stuff like that, and you deal with the middle of the scale types of issues, like you did with the Slitheen, Satellite Five, the Nesteen when we first met, things like that. Do whatever you can to help where you can like you usually do, just don't take it all on alone, especially if it's too big for you."

"And the Time Lords," Jack picked up again, "if there is something on too great a scale for us to handle, something too great for even the Doctor and his wonderful TARDIS, then hopefully for something like that, we can get the Time Lords involved to help prevent something like the Pandorica Incident, Canary Warf, or the Reality Bomb."

"Torchwood will handle threats to the time continuum itself," Vasta spoke up. "The Shadow Proclamation will handle political and legal issues, such as invasions, negotiations, and so on for the 'present' as it were."

Jack nodded to her and continued. "Torchwood will only help them in cases where it is something really severe that they can't handle or something that threatens time."

"This all sounds rather well thought out, Jack. Where's all this coming from?" the Doctor wanted to know.

Jack looked over at Rose and Clara.

"You?" the Doctor asked of them. "This is your brainchild?"

"We represent a concerned but interested faction," Rose told him.

"Oh, don't tell me. You've been recruited on behalf of the White Guardian?"

Clara looked at him carefully, curious as to what was churning in the big Time Lord brain. "That is close enough to the truth to be slightly creepy. How'd you come up with that?"

"I've had enough dealings with Eternals to recognize their influence," he said simply.

"Then, you should know that most of the few Eternals you've encountered, Doctor, were part of a minority group that had lost their way," Clara informed him.

"How would you know that?" he countered. He hadn't met an Eternal yet that he trusted. He wanted to find out just what their game was this time.

Rose and Clara answered in unison, their eyes flaring purple for a moment again. "Because we are the Ancients."

This declaration caused several reactions around the room. Ohila gasped as pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place for her. The General's eyes widened in shock and a little bit of fear. The Doctor, however, scoffed at them.

"No, you're not. You're both humans."

"So were the Ancients, once," Rose informed him.

Now _that_ surprised the Doctor. He was expecting some sort of denial, or perhaps some type of mind control on them to break. His mind was working furiously to find the deception.

"The Ancients were the first humans in another universe," Clara began. "Over many millions of years, they grew in technology, science, and evolution. Eventually, they grew to the point that many of them were able to ascend as beings of pure energy to a higher dimension within their universe. They discovered there that they could explore the whole of time by way of the time vortex in that universe."

"They had banned time travel technology in their mortal forms," Rose continued. "But with a strict policy of non-interference, they traveled the vortex to learn and grow more. Eventually, they evolved again, ascending even higher. What they found there was not just the key to their universe, but to _all_ the multiverse. The discovered the Nexus, from which sprang up the different shard universes, their time vortices, as well as creativity, knowledge, imagination, emotion, and the foundations of the soul."

"They seeded life throughout many of the galaxies in their first universe," Clara picked up again. "From the Nexus, some of them descended back into corporeal form in this universe, among others. In this universe, they initially settled on three worlds. Earth, Gallifrey, and Karn."

"But, if you were human," Ohila asked reverently, "how do you now claim to be of the Ancients?"

"The Eternals that dwell within the Nexus now, were once the Ancients. We have traveled to the Nexus, modified our physical forms to be that of the most advanced version of the Ancients, and were taught and trained by the Eternals," Rose told her.

"So that we might travel the multiverse, learn all we can, and help to correct some of the mistakes left behind before and after ascension," Clara concluded.

The Doctor and everyone else for that matter were stunned. He was staring at both of them, trying to find any tiny little trace of deception, but detecting none.

Amy was the one to recover first, and she spoke up from where her hologram was sitting in the doorway of the TARDIS. "Assuming that's true, what is the point in telling all of us that?"

Rose smiled brightly at that question, and Amy smiled back at her, glad to have been able to be at least a little bit of help.

"The Doctor is the key to this universe surviving. You all represent the Doctor's support network. You all know how hard he has tried, how much he has suffered, how important it is that he not travel alone," Rose told them.

"Something you should know, Doctor," Clara spoke up looking at him with a smile. "Your personal timeline is going to finally synch up with River's soon."

"Now, for the bad news," Rose broke in with an angry frown. She didn't like this part any better than the Doctor would, but it needed to be done. "If this venture is going to have any chance to succeed, if this universe is going to have any hope of surviving, it will require a triple genocide."

Everyone but Clara looked at her in shock and fear. The Doctor paid careful attention to Rose and could see by the tears welling up in her eyes while she refused to look at him, that his reaction would be the one that could save or destroy her. He recalled being on the other side of a scenario once before when trying to prevent World War III.

" _Do it._ " _She simply said._

" _You don't even know what it is, you'd just let me?_ "

" _Yeah._ " _She told him with a look of absolute trust and understanding in her eyes._

She was terrified that she could save the universe, but lose him. When he was the most broken, the most lost he'd ever been in his many lives, she swept in and helped put him back together. It was time to return the faith she showed in him.

"I'll do it," he said, his eyes never leaving hers as everyone in the room whipped their heads around to look at him.

Rose stared at him, her mouth hanging open, speechless. She looked right into his eyes, begging him not to hate her, and she saw only acceptance there. He had faith that she, his best friend, knew what was best to save the universe.

"Together," she said softly to him.

He nodded at her but was surprised when Jack spoke up.

"All of us," Jack said, looking around the room. "The Torchwood Promise. We will not let this universe blink out of existence if we can do anything to save it."

"I can agree with that decision, in theory," the General said, causing everyone to look at him. "But I need to know something first. Which three species?"

Rose was still trying to collect herself, and so Clara answered. "The Daleks, the Weeping Angels, and the Endocrinovores."

Everyone but Rose, herself, and Ohila blinked in confusion at the last name, so Clara chose to elaborate. "When we were training with the Eternals, we learned some things we never expected. Some of you know of the last of the greater demons, one was simply called The Beast, which the Doctor and Rose sent into a black hole leading to the Howling. The other was the son of The Beast, known as Abaddon. Jack took care of him. There is still an entire race of creatures created by the greater demons though, called the Endocrinovores. Earth knows them as the 456."

Jack gasped at that and looked angry at the mention of them.

"They are not a threat specifically to time, yet," Clara added. "But they are the last remnants of the greater demons in this universe and are evil incarnate."

"I think we can all agree this is an action that would be beneficial to the universe," the General started, looking around the room and seeing everyone nod. "How are we to do it though and when?"

"We can do it right now if everyone's in agreement?" Rose asked, looking each and every one of them in the eyes to ensure this was something they all agreed with. "There will be nothing held against anyone that wants to step away from this, but it is going to happen."

"I've seen what some of those monsters can do," Donna said. "I'm not backing out of this. My only question is how are we gonna do it?"

Rose tapped some controls on her wrist computer, and there was a flash of light from the center of the table. It deposited a cube-like object with circular markings all over it.

"The Moment," the General gasped.

"I had this hidden so deep in the TARDIS, I forgot about it. How did you find it?" the Doctor asked in honest curiosity.

"She gave it to us," Clara said gesturing to the TARDIS.

"And we modified it," Rose told them. "It was crude in its power before. Now, it will simply erase those three dangers from all of time and space."

"Erase them?" Micky asked in confusion.

"Won't that create even more, and more powerful, paradoxes causing the universe to implode as we are trying to prevent?" Martha asked, equally confused.

"I was erased once," Rory spoke up for the first time. "Still not quite sure how I got back or how I remember that I was erased in the first place, but it happened."

"It's a very tricky weapon," Rose admitted. "It won't actually undo everything they did. They won't be forgotten. They will simply cease to be. It's very complicated with a lot of higher dimensional quantum mechanics involved."

"Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey," Martha said with a sad grin.

"Pretty much, yeah," the Doctor agreed.

"But, how can something so small have so much power?" Vastra asked.

"Is there anyone here that doesn't already know about Bad Wolf?" Rose asked.

"I don't," Jenny spoke up and blushed a little at being the only one that didn't have some idea about the story behind Bad Wolf.

"General? What can you briefly tell us about the Moment?" Clara asked.

"It was also called the Galaxy Eater. It was said to be so powerful, it developed a conscience."

"The short version," Rose began, "is that I looked into the heart of the Doctor's TARDIS. I absorbed _all_ the power of the time vortex for a few minutes. During those few minutes, the Moment reached out from the Time War and asked to merge with myself and the TARDIS as part of my becoming the Bad Wolf. When we activate it, the Moment will reach _back_ to when I had that power, and use it while I was doing other things, like moving this base here."

As everyone let that sink in, Micky broke the tension. "Damn. I knew there was a reason I never wanted to piss you off, Rose."

Rose smiled gratefully at him and then revealed one last bit of information.

"This will prevent any more paradoxes from them, but as I said, it doesn't make people forget them or what they have done thus far. The universe will still be riddled with paradoxes, but this should give time a chance to properly heal."

As she finished saying that, a pillar rose out of the device with a red colored gem on the top of it. Rose placed her hand on it first. Clara then placed her hand on hers, entwining their fingers together, and the Doctor placed his hand over both. The others piling on top of the Doctor's hand.

"For the future?" Jack asked.

"For the future," they all said together, and then pressed down at the same time.

 **.oOo.**


	9. Chapter 9: Renewed Hope and Departures

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** Here is Chapter 9, the last chapter of part one, or act one if you prefer. As promised, at the end of this chapter is the first little bit of chapter 10 so you know I've already started work on it and am not abandoning this story. I'm taking a break to be with and help heal family, as well as relaxing over the holidays as much as I possibly can. Hope you all enjoy the story and I hope to start posting more of this story soon after new years. Happy holidays all!

 ** _Chapter 9: Renewed Hope and Departures_**

Rose, Clara, River, Jack, and Jenny were sitting around in the hanger of Torchwood playing with the new wrist computers that Rose and Clara gave them.

"Remember," Clara told them with a cheeky smile, "these are important tools, not toys."

"Yes, Mum," Jack replied in the same cheeky manner.

"Where did Dad disappear to?" Jenny asked.

"Just bringing the rest back home to begin with their plans or explain to family and make some decisions," Rose told her.

"He might be off on our honeymoon night on Darillium as well, since he knows that's all that's left for our time lines to synch up," River suggested.

Before any of them could respond to that, they heard the TARDIS materializing and turned to see it appearing right next to a black Snog Box that looked rather similar.

Rose and Clara grinned at each other as the Doctor stepped out and he looked at them curiously.

"I told you it was a Snog Box," Clara said to the Doctor and nodded behind him. He turned to see it and then turned back with a mutinous look on his face, which caused Rose to burst out laughing.

"Very funny. Which one of you put that up, then?" he asked.

"Oh, we have a couple more surprises for you, Doctor," Rose said after she reduced her laughter to light chuckles.

Clara handed him a wrist computer like theirs and explained their functions, especially the real-time communications ability.

"Also," Rose added, "it's nice to have a quick out from a tight spot if you need it in a pinch."

"River, you should try to give your folks a call. You can visit with them as well sometimes, but remember that you can't take them away from their current time with that knot of paradoxes," Clara told her.

River smiled gratefully at them. "Thank you. I'll give that a try after we get this little tour you promised," she said with a grin.

"Right then, you lot," Rose spoke as she led them over to the black box. "This won't actually be a surprise for most of you, having been in the Doctor's TARDIS." She then turned to look at the Doctor who was looking at her and Clara in a slightly confused manner.

"Okay, Clara, I think that's enough teasing the Doctor," Rose said.

Clara smiled and hugged the Doctor before she walked over to the side of the box and lovingly ran her palm over the doors. "Thanks for humoring us, Dear, but it's time to set it right."

They all looked on in awe as the words 'Snog Box' glowed with purple energy for a moment and then faded to reveal instead, the words 'Wolf Den.'

"You mean," the Doctor started to ask in shock, "that you actually have a TARDIS?"

"That's what we affectionately call it," Rose admitted. "But it's gone a bit beyond that now. You've seen this before, Doctor. But then it was a big red and coppery sphere that punched a hole in the world."

His eyes went wide as he realized that he was looking at the Void Ship. "The Genesis Arch wasn't the only thing the Daleks stole, was it?"

"Right in one, Doctor. From what we gathered, it was actually a secret project of the Academy. How the Daleks found and stole it we still don't know. It was experimental though and not complete yet. Bad Wolf modified it to near completion and made it so it no longer violently punched a hole from a universe to the void, and the Eternals finished it for us."

Clara led them all in, and most noted that while the color scheme was a bit different, it mostly resembled the Doctor's layout. The main differences were the central rotor and the curved holographic displays above the outer ring of control panels. Instead of the sleek circular patterns they were used to decorating various fixtures and the main monitor, they found blocky designs instead.

"That's not Old High Gallifraian," the Doctor said with a nod to the writing. "I don't recognize that writing at all."

"That's because it's Ancient," Clara explained. "From the first universe of the Ancients."

"What do you say, Jack? Want a quick trip to Earth to drop you off so you can find Gwen and Rhys, see if they want to join you with getting Torchwood going again?" she asked.

"Sure! Let's see what this baby's capable of," he responded.

"Uh-oh, Jack…" Rose started as Clara laughed and started tapping away at some of the controls. "I think you just issued her a challenge."

Clara then pulled a lever. They could hear the engines kick on and saw the central rotor start moving. Within the column of the central rotor, the purple and black energy started swirling around. A moment later, they landed with a thud and another holographic screen sprang to life just above the doors showing Gwen holding a baby, with a look of shock on her face as she handed the baby over to Rhys. She proceeded to pull out a gun from under a sofa cushion and pointed it right at the doors.

"Well," Jack started, "She certainly hasn't lost her edge."

"Here you go, Jack." Rose said as she pulled out two more wrist computers. "Just in case they say yes. All of these have a default home return function to Demons Run. There will be a case of five hundred of them in the control room before we leave on our first trip."

"Thanks," he said, pulling Rose into a hug.

There was a bang on the door. They all looked up at the monitor to see Gwen was no longer pointing her gun at the door, but was instead knocking on it.

"I better get out there. Have a good trip!"

Jack walked out the doors and just as they were closing, they could hear him say, "Did ya miss me?"

They all chuckled as Rose took them back to Demons Run. When they stepped out they were back next to the Doctor's TARDIS.

The Doctor was about to say something when Rose put up a hand to stop him. She then pressed a button on her wrist and spoke. "Call the Doctor and River."

Both noticed a reaction on their own wrist devices and activated them. Now, all three of them had a little hologram of the other two hovering over their wrists.

"Remember, Doctor, you don't have to do everything alone anymore. We're all just a call away."

The Doctor nodded silently, deactivating his computer and surprised Rose and Clara by pulling them both into a group hug.

They both returned the hug and held on for a long moment before stepping back. "We would stay around longer," Rose started, "but seeing as you and River essentially just got back from your honeymoon…"

"And we haven't had a chance to have ours yet," Clara added with a grin causing everyone to smile, "we're going to enjoy ourselves for a little while before we get down to anything serious."

"Before we leave, though, we have an idea for how to eventually get Amy and Rory here," Rose said as she looked from the Doctor to River.

"Work on making permanent gangers that can contain a copy of their minds. Maybe you can replace them, but you'll have to monitor their time zone to find out if that's even possible," Clara informed them.

River pulled them both into a quick hug. "Thank you, Dears."

"You're very welcome, River," Clara told her.

"And there is one last surprise we have for the three of you," Rose said as she nodded to the Doctor, Jenny, and River in turn.

"You know," the Doctor said with a smirk, "I'm not used to being the one impressed."

Clara laughed musically at that, while Rose smiled at him. "We are who we are because you showed us a better way of living life, Doctor."

"Oh, I did no such thing," he tried to deflect.

"No, Doctor, not this time," Rose told him firmly. "Davros told you that you take ordinary people and fashion them into weapons, but that's not true. You take ordinary people and show them that they can be so much more than a repeating pattern of work and sleep and eat."

Rose hugged him tightly. "You are our best friend, Doctor, and we will always love you for that. This isn't goodbye either. Those computers we gave you, they can communicate to ours, or even our TARDIS, across the Howling, no matter what universe we happen to be in."

"Now," Clara picked up after a few moments of silently watching the Doctor hug her wife with a smile. "As for the last surprise, we have for the three of you…"

"Bad Wolf gave all three of you a very special gift," Rose said as she stepped away. "You have no limit on your number of regenerations. The only way you could not regenerate is if you purposely choose not to."

The Doctor and River gaped at them, while Jenny looked confused. "I'm sorry, what's regeneration? You guys explained it's why Dad has a new face, but that was it."

Clara grinned at her. "You'll just have to ask your dad. We need to get going. We have one last stop to make before we head off to Pete's world."

The Doctor nodded in understanding as he gave Clara a hug, before leading River and Jenny into his TARDIS.

The girls watched the TARDIS dematerialize with a fond smile, before walking into the Wolf Den. Clara sent them into the time vortex while Rose made a call.

 **.oOo.**

Jackie was just sitting down with a cup of tea when her mobile rang. She looked at the display but it only said, 'Wolf Den.'

"Hello?" she spoke as she answered it.

"Mum? Are you alone?" she heard her daughter ask and she smiled.

"Sure am, Sweetheart. Want to pop around?" She was surprised when instead of hearing a reply, the line cut out.

A moment later, she heard a very strange noise and she looked on in shock as a black box appeared in her entryway. She was less surprised, however, when her daughter stepped out of it and ran to her for a hug.

"What's all this for?" Jackie asked with a bit of confusion. "Would you like a cuppa tea?"

"Sorry, Mum. I just popped in real quick to say goodbye, for now."

Jackie stepped back from the hug and looked at her daughter in concern. "Goodbye? Whatever for?"

"Well, I still can't tell you what happens that separates us, but I can tell you we found a way around it. Rules of time travel and all that, it's still quite risky to make visits during this year, so this has to be the last one."

"Well, why not stick around for a while then?" her mum asked with a note of sadness.

"Because, Mum, there is still a lot I can't explain right now and I really want to. So, I'm going to jump ahead so I can tell you."

"And you're sure you'll be safe?"

"Yes, Mum. I want you to remember something for me though. After I leave you on the beach with a man in a blue suit, wait there. Don't call anyone to pick you up. Got that?"

"Beach, blue suit, wait. I think I can remember that," Jackie said with a sad smile.

Rose hugged her again. "I love you, Mum."

"I love you too, Sweetheart," Jackie said with a hitch in her voice and a kiss on her daughter's cheek as she held on tight for a moment.

Rose stepped back, smiled at her mum, walked back into the box, and disappeared.

 **.oOo.**

"You have different memories of similar time lines?" the clone Doctor asked in shock. "That shouldn't be possible."

"Well, I do, you plum. And if I'm remembering things right, you're about to be in for a bit of a surprise," Jackie told him.

Before either of them could say anything else, they heard a wheezing, groaning sound, but not from where the Doctor's TARDIS had left, instead from behind them. They both turned around to look and the metacrisis couldn't contain his confusion. "What?"

As the sound grew, a shape began to appear and grow more solid, taking the form of a black box that resembled the blue police box the TARDIS took the form of. "WHAT?!"

With a thud, it was solid. They got a good look at it and he noticed instead of saying, 'Police Box' it said, 'Wolf Den.' When the Door opened to reveal Rose and Clara stepping out, his shock grew to unimaginable heights. "What!"

"Oh," Clara started. "He doesn't not handle being confused too well, does he?"

Rose ran to her mother and pulled her into a hug, before reaching over and pulling a very confused Doctor into the hug as well. When she stepped back, Clara was at her side. "Mum, Doctor, I'd like you to meet my wife, Clara."

"Hello, Clara. Lovely to see you again," Jackie said.

The Doctor was still trying to wrap his brain around what was happening. "What?!"

"I think we have some catching up to do," Clara said as she invited them all into the Wolf Den.

 **.oOo.**

"That is impressive," the Doctor said as he looked around the girls' TARDIS. They had just explained everything that had been going on from Bad Wolf to Gallifrey and the formation of the new Torchwood.

"It sounds like you've had a fantastic life, Sweetheart. So, you'll come and visit now and then, right?" Jackie asked.

"Of course, Mum. We'd actually stay longer, but we need to take the Doctor somewhere and drop you home first," Rose said as Clara landed them in the Tyler manor.

Jackie pulled both Rose and Clara into a hug, kissing them each on the top of their heads. "You're family now, Clara. So, make sure you both come back to visit."

Clara was a bit misty eyed and they both nodded as Jackie walked out the doors.

Once the doors were closed, Rose and Clara went back to the console and started fiddling with the controls, so, the Doctor chimed in.

"So where is it you need to take me?"

"The best place for that chunk of TARDIS to grow," Rose told him as she pulled a lever and they took off. "We'll get her started growing and then take you forward to pick her up."

The Doctor developed a manic grin. "That's brilliant!"

A few hours later, after the TARDIS had been 'planted,' they were all back in the Wolf Den and heading forward in time. "We have something else for you, too." Rose said as she pulled out a box of wrist computers.

"We'll let you learn about all their functions from your own, but this box is for the others in Torchwood," Clara said as Rose set the box down on one of the seats and Clara reached into her coat pocket, pulling out another one and a sonic. "These are for you," she told him.

The Doctor took them reverently, placing the computer on his wrist and testing out the sonic. "That particular sonic, while modeled based on ours, has all the same programs and features as the one you would be used to, and then some," Rose told him.

"It, and your wrist computer, can also be specially linked with your TARDIS and has a special com link with the Wolf Den, just in case you need us for anything," Clara said.

"Please," Rose implored him, "help this universe. Torchwood is a great way to help. Help them, teach them, you are good at making people realize their full potential. And like I said before, never travel alone. I'm sure this world's Donna would love to travel with you."

The Doctor nodded gratefully. "I thought after the other Doctor brought us to Pete's world, that I didn't have a purpose, but you just gave me one, Rose Tyler."

He hugged Rose and then Clara as they landed and he stepped out of the Wolf Den. The girls followed with him to be sure everything was okay. There in front of the Doctor, was a silver cylinder, with what appeared to be a door.

"A bit of advice, Doctor. Upgrade the chameleon circuit to make it programable," Rose said with a cheeky smile. "Might make for a fun prank if it just took the form of an office door in a hall way in the tower where no one is expecting one."

The Doctor laughed at that. "Is that why your TARDIS looks the way it does?"

Clara smiled at him. "Just to tease the other Doctor, ours said, 'Snog Box' for a while."

He let out another laugh at that, and then stepped over to his TARDIS and opened the door. Inside, it looked just like the TARDIS when Rose was traveling with the Doctor and she smiled at the chaotic console and coral struts.

"Home sweet home," he said quietly.

"Go ahead and take it for a test run, Doctor. We want to make sure it's all set before we leave for a long overdue honeymoon," Clara said.

He nodded to them as they stepped back and he walked in to the main console and it dematerialized before their eyes.

They were both leaning against the Wolf Den a few minutes later, just holding each other, when it rematerialized in the form of a familiar blue police box and the Doctor stepped out with a silly grin on his face.

"Thanks for the advice," he said. "Made it programable. This is now the default setting, but I can make it whatever I want so I might try your prank idea sometime."

Rose gave him that tongue in teeth grin of hers and gave him a quick hug.

"Remember, Doctor," Clara told him as he was getting ready to leave again. "Your computer can communicate with us, regardless of what universe we are in. If you ever need us, please, call."

"I will," he said gratefully. "And, thank you both, so much."

With that, they got in their respective TARDIS, and disappeared.

 ** _End Part 1_**

 ** _A/N_**

 ** _So that's the end of the first segment of this story. Part 2 is where they enter the universe of Stargate and have some fun there. Again, please see my profile where I will put a full synopsis of this story universe as well as details for anyone that wants to do side stories for it._**

 **.oOo.**

 **Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 ** _Part 2_**

 ** _Chapter 10: The First Universe_**

The Wolf Den materialized inside of a long abandon space station. Rose and Clara stepped out and looked around. For being abandon for tens of thousands of years, it was surprisingly well maintained. Then again, from everything they learned in the Nexus, the Ancients did know how to build things to last. This station, for example, was the size of a small moon or large asteroid. It was the trans-galactic hub of the Ancient's Stargate networks, as well as their ship and technology production facility. Of course, being in the void between galaxies made sure that almost no-one would ever find it. That it orbited a Class O Blue Supergiant star that the Ancients had engineered themselves was mindboggling. Even the Time Lords had never ventured that far with their ambitions.

"Well, isn't this cozy," Clara said as she looked around the control center they were in.

"Be fair," Rose told her. "There's something to be said for function over form sometimes."

"Let's just find the control chair and interface with the repository. That should have the most up-to-date information for now," Clara responded.

 **.oOo.**


	10. Chapter 10: The First Universe

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** So, that was the end of part one of this story. Here is part two where we get into the universe of Stargate and others such as Star Wars, possibly Firefly and maybe even Star Trek eventually. I honestly don't know. Part of why it has taken me so long to update (sorry about that) is because after watching The Last Jedi, my interest in Star Wars was reignited, causing me to binge watch both The Clone Wars and the first three seasons of Rebels. Also, read an amazing Rebels fanfic that I will mention later. So, yeah, expect some Star Wars in a few chapters.

 ** _Part 2_**

 ** _Chapter 10: The First Universe_**

The Wolf Den materialized inside of a long-abandon space station. Rose and Clara stepped out and looked around. For being abandon for tens of thousands of years, it was surprisingly well maintained. Then again, from everything they learned in the Nexus, the Ancients did know how to build things to last. This station, for example, was the size of a small moon or large asteroid. It was the trans-galactic hub of the Ancient's Stargate networks, as well as their ship and technology production facility. Of course, being in the void between galaxies made sure that almost no-one would ever find it. That it orbited a Class O Blue Supergiant star that the Ancients had engineered themselves was mindboggling. Even the Time Lords had never ventured that far with their ambitions.

"Well, isn't this cozy," Clara said as she looked around the control center they were in.

"Be fair," Rose told her. "There's something to be said for function over form sometimes."

"Let's just find the control chair and interface with the repository. That should have the most up-to-date information for now," Clara responded.

 **.oOo.**

"Hmmmm… What do you think, Clara?" Rose asked as she looked at the newer model of Stargate they found in storage a few months later. "Should we add one to the Den?"

"What's the point? It's not like we need it to get anywhere." She responded.

"Yeah, but you have to admit, it looks really cool."

Clara laughed at that. "You sound just like the Chin sometimes, you know that?"

Rose blushed a bit, but before she could respond, they got a beep on the wrist computers, which they had tied into the core of the station as well.

"Well," Clara said, "looks like we are going to Earth a little sooner than expected."

"Seriously, how the hell did they end up connecting to a black hole?" Rose asked exasperatedly as they headed back to the control center.

"Well, they haven't got a proper dialing device, have they?" Clara pointed out.

"Maybe we should offer them one," Rose considered.

"Might be a good idea," Clara agreed. "We should put one of the cloaked satellites in orbit too."

"Sounds good. Ready to introduce ourselves?" Rose asked with a smile as they walked into the control room where the TARDIS was parked.

 **.oOo.**

General Hammond and SG-1 were staring at the monitor in shock. SG-10 was trapped on a planet being sucked into a black hole, and there was nothing they could do to save them. Jack felt bad for his friend that he recommended for the Stargate program. And Carter wanted to study it?!

"We are witnessing good men dying, in slow motion, Captain!" Jack told her angrily.

Carter seemed to realize just how terribly her scientific curiosity had overcome her, and felt horrible about it. "You're right, Sir."

The technician typed the commands into the computer, but it didn't work. He tried again, and got the same results. Turning to General Hammond, he said, "Sir, it won't disengage."

"Try again," Hammond responded.

"I already have, Sir. Twice. It won't shut down."

Before anyone had a chance to worry about what that might mean, they heard an unusual sound building in the gate room, a wheezing, groaning sound. They watched as a black box appeared on the ramp, directly in front of the stargate.

"Security teams, move in," Hammond ordered into the microphone in the control room.

Several armed soldiers entered from either side of the gate room and pointed their guns at the black box in front of the stargate.

The door opened, and out came a blonde girl wearing jeans and a t-shirt, followed by a brunette in tights, with a skirt and blouse. Both of them were wearing long black coats and appeared to be unarmed.

"Well, there's a fine how'd ya do," the blonde said sarcastically.

"They're Americans," the brunette said as if that made everything clear. "What did you think they would do if a mysterious black box suddenly appeared in the middle of their top-secret military base?"

"Well, I had hoped they would at least greet us and ask questions first."

"Excuse me," they heard from speakers in the room. They looked around and saw an important looking bald man in a room behind a thick glass window, talking into a microphone. "Who are you, and how did you get into this base?"

"Well, better late than never I suppose," the blonde said in a snarky manner.

The brunette lightly elbowed her and spoke. "We're friends, I promise. We detected your stargate in a fault condition, connected to a black hole. Mind if we fix that first, before we get to the question and answer session?"

"Sir," they saw a blonde short-haired woman say to the bald man. "If they can shut down the gate, we should let them. We have no idea what kind of effects might get transmitted back through the wormhole if it remains open."

"Very well, proceed," the man said into the mic.

They watched as the blonde girl pulled something out of the sleeve of her jacket and turned to point it at the open gate. It made a whirring sound and a moment later, the stargate disengaged.

In the meantime, the group that was behind the glass came into the gate room from one of the side doors and stared at them.

"How were you able to do that?" the woman asked.

"Sonic probe," the blonde girl replied putting it back in her sleeve. "Just used it to send an emergency disconnect signal to the internal control circuits of the stargate."

"You make that sound like a simple, everyday occurrence," the woman said.

"Every day, no," the brunette girl said. "Simple, pretty much."

"My name is General George Hammond, commander of the facility. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, and Teal'c. Can you tell us who you are and how you got here?"

"I'm Rose, and this is Clara," the blonde girl said indicating herself and the brunette.

"We got here in our ship," Clara said as she patted the side of the black box affectionately. "The Wolf Den. Please don't ask us how exactly it works though. The English language just doesn't have the mathematical or scientific capacity to go into detail about the higher dimensional mechanics behind that."

"You said that you were able to detect a problem with our gate? Does that mean you could also detect where it was connected to?" O'Neill asked.

"We did," Rose confirmed. "We wanted to make sure to lock that address out of the system in general to prevent further incidents like what just happened here."

"Would that black box you came here in be able to go there by any chance?" he asked.

"Fairly easy, yeah. Why do you ask?" Clara was getting more and more curious. These people were not as uptight as they initially expected.

"We have a team trapped there and can't do anything for them," O'Neill said before the General could try to stop him.

"Shit!" Rose said as she grabbed Clara by the arm and they both ran back into the box and closed the door. A moment later, they all heard the strange wheezing and groaning noise again as the box disappeared from their view.

"Colonel!" Hammond almost yelled at him.

"I had to, Sir. If there is even a slim chance that they could be rescued. Getting sucked into a black hole sounds like a terribly painful way to die."

"There's no way they'd be able to reach them in time, though, Sir. You might have just asked them to go on a suicide mission," Carter stated.

Before anyone could respond to that, they heard the sound again, this time from the wall behind them, under the window to the control room.

The doors opened and out staggered SG-10!

"Major Boyd?" Hammond asked in a concerned tone, which secretly pleased Rose and Clara as they walked out behind the beleaguered team.

"Sir," the Major acknowledged. "I'd like to get my team to the infirmary. We're all rather sore, sir."

"Agreed. Get to the infirmary and get some rest. We'll debrief tomorrow at 0800."

"Thank you, sir," the Major said as he and his team staggered out of the gate room and were met by a med team.

"Thank you," O'Neill said sincerely to Rose and Clara who were leaning against their black box.

"You're welcome," they said in unison with disarming smiles.

"Yes, thank you for saving our men," Hammond said with a relieved sigh. "Would you join us for a discussion upstairs in our briefing room?"

"Next time, perhaps," Rose told them.

"We were in the middle of something else when we detected the fault in your gate. We'll come back another time for proper introductions," Clara said.

"Maybe even with gifts to make sure something like this doesn't happen again," Rose said cryptically. She was starting to understand the Doctor a bit more, now that she was on the other side of things.

The girls walked back into the box and the people in the gate room watched it disappear again, wondering just what the hell had happened.

As Rose and Clara were at the controls taking them back to the hub, Clara just had to ask. "You had way too much fun with that, didn't you?"

Rose laughed merrily. "Come on, it was fun to be on the Doctor side of the equation. You enjoyed that, too."

Clara chuckled a bit. "Yeah. So, what do you think, upgrades?"

"Might as well. Just a little boost and some safety measures to help out while they learn."

"Let's get started then, shall we?"

 **.oOo.**

"Well, that was good work, SG-1," Hammond said as they were finishing with their latest debrief. He was still amazed by it to be honest. Some of the things they had learned since discovering the stargate just boggled the mind. "Dismissed."

They were all starting to get up when a wheezing, groaning sound filled the briefing room. Daniel looked around in concern but the others just looked surprised when a black box appeared in the corner of the room.

Rose and Clara stepped out of the box smiling playfully at the group of people.

"Did you miss us?" Rose asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

Clara smacked her lightly on the arm. "Would you stop teasing them? They've just been flung backward and forwards in time, by a _wormhole_ of all things."

"How could you possibly know that?" Sam asked them in confusion.

"And what do you mean 'of all things'?" Daniel looked at them curiously.

"Oh, he's a sharp one," Clara said.

"Seems so. Still, shame you hit 1969. You would have really enjoyed the summer of love," Rose said cheekily.

"I did," Jack said with a smirk.

"So, this is the black box you told me about?" Daniel asked his teammates. "Why does it say, 'Wolf Den' on the top?"

"Personal preference," Rose replied.

"Used to say, 'Snog Box' there," Clara told them with a snicker.

"Clara, Rose, what brings you by today?" Hammond asked to regain a little control of the room.

"You've just had a second malfunction with your gate this year caused by lack of a proper dialing device," Clara explained.

"Thought you all could do with an upgrade," Rose told them.

"You're just… giving us a DHD?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"Carter," Jack started. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"The answer to your question is no," Rose told her.

"We're going to upgrade your entire control center," Clara said with that cheeky smirk.

"How are you going to do that?" Hammond asked. "And how long would it take?"

"Like this," Rose said as she tapped a few keys on her wrist computer. There was a flash of light and in front of Sam was suddenly a snazzy looking laptop.

"Nice trick. Been hanging around with the Asgard have you?" Jack quipped. He was just making a wisecrack. He didn't expect them both to whip around and stare at him intently.

"You've had contact with the Asgard?" Rose asked seriously.

"Even went to their world in a different galaxy," Jack told them.

"How? Earth shouldn't have the power generation capabilities to be able to form an intergalactic wormhole yet." Clara was really glad they made contact with these people. They had been looking for the Asgard since they learned of the great race alliance. They had already found and spent time with the Nox, but found no trace of the Asgard or Furlings yet.

"Colonel O'Neill was able to build a device that temporarily boosted our power flow," Sam offered, not looking up from what she was seeing on the laptop.

"I take it you haven't been hanging around them? How are you able to do that beaming stuff they do then?" Jack asked.

"That's a long story," Clara said evasively.

"We have time," Hammond told her.

"How about a deal?" Rose countered. "You give us the gate address you have to their world, and we'll not only upgrade your control center, but also other parts of the base, like your infirmary, power generation and some beaming technology to make the base self-sufficient."

 _That_ was able to pull Sam's attention away from the laptop. "Every advanced race we've encountered has refused to share technology. Why would you be so willing?"

"The amount of advanced knowledge on that computer you have in front of you is enough to put you roughly a millennium or two ahead of the currently most advanced people in the galaxy," Rose admitted to them.

"But it is only knowledge," Clara explained. "It will take time to understand it and put it to use, time that should help you develop the wisdom on how to use it."

Everyone goggled at the what was being offered to them before Rose continued.

"The reason so many have a non-interference policy is because advancing too quickly tends to destroy planets and peoples, usually because they advanced the weapons technology far ahead of anything else."

"What we are offering with that computer," Clara picked up, "is a paced advancement of scientific knowledge in general. Basically, it will make you earn the next advance."

"But what we are offering for the base is a way to safely continue on as you are. The control center, for example, will have a proper dialing device built into it with safety protocols that prevent things such as dialing black holes or through solar flares," Rose continued.

"This again," Clara started, "is strictly for the safety of this base, and as such will all be tamper-proof preventing reverse engineering."

"That's still an awfully big carrot," Hammond said as everyone else looked rather stunned. "What's the stick?"

"The stick, as you call it General," Rose said seriously, "is that you keep to the moral and ethical standards that you have already set so high. Do that, General, and we could have a very good friendship. Fail to do so, and we will cut off all communication and remove our gifted technology from the entire base."

"Will you excuse me while I make some calls about this?" he asked them.

"Take your time, General," Clara said as he got up from the table and left for his office. She and Rose walked over to the table and sat down next to Daniel to wait, and answer some likely questions.

"You don't even need us to give you the gate address, do you? You'll just take it from our computers remotely," Daniel said without preamble.

Clara laughed at this while Rose looked at him curiously and asked, "What makes you think so?"

"You're too willing to give us advanced knowledge and technology, you obviously have technology far advanced of what you are offering us, you knew we had amoral elements in our society that could be trouble on this base so you've already been in our systems at least once. You speak English with English accents and they have no knowledge of us, so you're either from the future, from a different reality, or studied us closely enough to have traced our language to its origin in which case you would easily be able to access our technology."

The girls gaped at him in shock at the leaps of logic he made, but couldn't discount any of them. Sam might be the technical one of their team, but Daniel obviously had an amazing mind.

Rose kept staring at him as she reached into her coat and pulled out a _stethoscope_ of all things, placing it in her ears and pressing it against Daniel's chest for a moment before pulling back.

Daniel looked at her in confusion as Rose put it away and turned to Clara. "One heart, not a Time Lord. But that is some frightening brain power."

Everyone was staring at the girls in astonishment, except Sam, who was staring at Daniel.

Clara looked at them all in turn with a serious expression on her face. "Do NOT tell your boss we could just take the address from the computer. We want this deal as much as you do."

"You _must_ be Dr. Daniel Jackson," Rose said reaching out her hand to shake his. "I'm Rose, this is my wife, Clara. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Daniel said with a bemused expression. Before anything else could be said, Hammond walked back into the briefing room.

"I've been given the order to proceed," he informed them. "If you'll come down to the control room, we can get you the address you requested."

They all followed the General down the stairs into the control room where he ordered a technician to bring up the address on the computer screen.

Rose input the address into her wrist computer while Clara asked everyone to step back from the equipment into the middle of the room. In a flash of light, all the equipment in the room was replaced with sleek looking panels. One panel, right in front of the window, had the dialing symbols on it. The control for the iris was now attached to one of the window frames and while there were still physical monitors, they were flat screens that could also expand onto holographic displays.

Clara sat down at one of the terminals, pressed a button, and a holographic display sprang to life with a display of their gate map. She selected one, and the gate dialed it far more rapidly than the previous system could have. She shut the gate down and left the holographic screen open on an instruction manual.

"As you can see," Rose started as she smiled at their shocked looks, "all of the data from your old system was copied onto the new system in transit. Everything you see will function exactly as you would expect from your old system, but with some improvements and a few little additions."

"What you can't see," Clara continued for her, "Is that we also just beamed in some medical equipment to your infirmary, a food production terminal to your main kitchen, and a power generation module for you to connect to your power grid is waiting for you up in the briefing room. The other equipment we provided will actually draw power from that module wirelessly without any connections, so you only need to connect it to your grid to for the Stargate and other needs."

Jack ran up the stairs quickly, the others following to find him staring at a black brick-shaped object on the table with what looked like jumper cables sticking out of it.

"Well," he said, "that's a bit anti-climactic."

His team stared at him incredulously, Clara burst into laughter, and Rose just shook her head.

"We did tell you it would all be tamper-proof," Rose reminded him.

"I understand that," Jack said. "It's just, this thing is going to save us over a billion dollars a year. I was expecting something a bit more dramatic than a brick."

This time Rose cracked too and the girls were holding each other up as they laughed.

SG-1 and General Hammond sat down at the table, but Clara and Rose continued walking towards their black box and leaned against it.

"Any last questions before we leave?" Rose asked.

"Only a million or so," Sam deadpanned.

"Pick the best one you can think of." Clara suggested.

While Sam's brain was turning furiously trying to decide what to ask, Daniel beat her to it. "How can we contact you?"

"Ha!" Rose laughed and turned to Clara. "You're making dinner tonight."

Clara simply stuck her tongue out at Rose before turning back to the group. "Sam should have the answer to that in a few years," she said with a smile as she and Rose stepped into the TARDIS and disappeared.

After watching as the mysterious black box vanished, all heads turned to Sam.

"I don't know," Sam admitted. "She must mean the answer is on this computer somewhere."

 **.oOo.**


	11. Chapter 11: Interludes

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 ** _Chapter 11: Interludes_**

SG-1 was enjoying a little downtime having a cookout on Jacks back deck a few weeks later and trying to solve the riddle that was the girls in the mysterious black box. They talked a lot, gave them far more help than they ever imagined, but always left more questions than answers.

Jack was explaining the finer points of hot dogs and hamburgers to Teal'c and trying to explain they weren't actually made from ham, when Daniel walked over to and spoke quietly with Sam.

"Any luck with that computer?" he asked her.

"Quite a bit," she responded. "but I think I know what they meant when they said we would have to earn the next advance. When we get to a certain point in one topic, it stops and automatically turns over into a completely different topic. What about you? Any more brilliant deductions from that _frightening_ brain of yours?" she asked him with a teasing smile.

"I think they're Ancients," he told her bluntly.

Sam gaped at him. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Well, from what you told me about your first meeting with them, they had very easy command of the Stargate itself and intimate knowledge of its inner workings. Then there is the DHD in the control room. Every planet we've been to has had a standard DHD, even the Nox, but they provided us with a custom DHD that supposedly includes all the safety protocols we had no way of knowing to put into our dialing computer."

Sam looked at him funny, like she was trying to work out everything he just told her as well as working something out about him at the same time, when he continued.

"And how about how they upgraded the base itself. They obviously had Asgard-like tech, but look at the size of that black box of theirs. Do you really think they could keep all that equipment in there? It would be a tight enough squeeze for just the two of them."

"They were right, Daniel," she told him with a little bit of awe.

"Right about what?" he asked her in obvious confusion.

"Your brain power _is_ frightening."

"No, we just focus on different things," he tried to explain to her.

"But intelligence is intelligence, Daniel."

"To an extent, yes. But we specialize in different areas."

She thought about that for a minute and her eyes widened as it all clicked into place. "I'm an astrophysicist, so I look at the data, but you're an archaeologist and philologist, you look at the people and how they live so you have been able to notice things the rest of us haven't."

Daniel simply nodded before asking, "Have you found anything on that computer about communications?"

"Not yet," she admitted. "But I've been more letting it guide me. I can try to look for an index on it next time."

"Wait on that," he suggested. "I think they said you would have that answer, not because you have the computer, but because we all assumed it was on the computer. Try looking through the manual in the control room."

 **.oOo.**

Rose and Clara were curled up in their bed on the Wolf Den. It had been several months since their last interaction with Earth and they still hadn't contacted the Asgard yet. Rose was content laying there, cuddling with her. They had learned a lot about their ancestors and were having some fun with what they learned.

"When do you think we should visit them?" Clara asked.

"I think we should check in with Torchwood before we make contact with the Asgard. Ya'know, just to see how things are going back home," Rose said.

"Yeah, you're missing it a bit too, aren't you?" Clara asked as she lightly kissed her cheek.

Rose nodded before turning over and pulling Clara in for a heated snog, tangling herself with her wife and just forgetting everything for a few moments. When they broke for air several minutes later, Clara spoke in a dreamy voice.

"Don't think I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

"I just wanted you to know, that no matter how much I might miss home, I'd never change a thing about any of this. I love you, Clara, and I'm so lucky to have you."

Clara smiled brightly at that and gave her another passionate kiss. "I have to say, there's nothing I could ever regret about loving you, too."

"We'll take a little trip in the morning, then?" Rose asked with a sleepy smile.

"Yeah," Clara replied softly as they both drifted off.

 **.oOo.**

Rhys was sitting at a terminal next to Gwen scanning through some information on the display, Donna and Shaun were at home enjoying a day off, the Doctor and River were cataloging more of the technology that was on the base, and Jack was showing Jenny how to take a shift in the control room, when the sound of a TARDIS materializing caused them to turn around.

After the Wolf Den appeared, Rose and Clara stepped out smiling at them. "Hello," they both said with a little wave.

"Welcome back. Did you enjoy your honeymoon?" Jack asked them with a cheeky grin.

They both blushed prettily but didn't lose their smiles. "Quite." Rose said simply while Clara just nodded.

"How've you been?" Jenny asked them enthusiastically

"Well, we've been learning quite a bit," Clara told them

"But there are times when it's a bit boring," Rose admitted.

"One of the many reasons I stole a TARDIS and ran away from Gallifrey," the Doctor said from the doorway to the control room, causing the girls to turn and smile at him.

"How are you, Doctor?" Rose asked him as she walked over and gave him a hug.

"Not as bored as you, apparently," he replied with a raised eyebrow.

"There is something weird in the Milky Way in that universe," Clara offered. "It's quite sterile compared to the variety we're used to here."

"How so?" Jack asked.

"We've encountered mostly humans," Rose said. "Many of which are infected with a parasite that totally takes control of them."

"We've also met one race that is not human, but very similar, and we're planning contact with another race soon that looks a lot like the Roswell greys, but they are actually from another galaxy," Clara supplied.

"And that's it?" the Doctor asked with his brows furled in confusion.

"Exactly our point. Seems sterile," Rose concurred.

"Have you time traveled at all there?" he asked them.

"Some," Clara replied. "But the vortex is different there. More like a thick stew compared the gentle stream is seems like here."

"Our manipulators can't even take us through it at all, they will only work like a teleport," Rose told him in confusion.

"Can you show me?" the Doctor asked.

"And us!" Jenny said as she and Jack stood.

"Sure," they said in unison as they walked back into the Wolf Den, the others following behind.

Rose worked at the panel specifically for traveling between universes while Clara took care of the main console and brought them to the Ancient hub.

The Doctor poked his head out the door for only a second before he scrunched up his nose and pulled himself back in. "You're right, it's thicker. Make's my head a bit foggy."

He ran back to the main console and was just about to start using it when he stopped, and looked over at Rose and then Clara. "May I?"

They smiled at him. "Go ahead," Rose said.

He input a course and sent them off, all the while reaching out with his time senses as they moved across space and also through the time vortex. When they stopped, he walked over to the doors and flung them open.

They were simply drifting through space around a star. "As I thought. No Gallifrey in this universe, which means no Time Lords and thus no Time War to weaken the web of time."

"You mean that our universe is supposed to be thick like this as well?" Clara asked.

"It was, once. All the damage caused by the Time War, though, why do you think Vortex Manipulators came about in the first place? Time weakened and they could suddenly work."

"I suppose that makes some sense," Rose conceded. "Do you wanna see some of what we learned about our ancestors?"

The Doctor simply nodded as he closed the doors and Rose took them back to the Ancient hub.

When they all stepped out, even the Doctor was rather impressed at what he was seeing. They led the three of them around to look at the various production facilities and the shipyards before making their way back to the control center.

"So, you can just step through that thing there and go to a different planet across the galaxy," Jack asked after Clara explained the stargate to them.

"Wanna try?" Rose asked with a teasing smile.

"How long does it take?" Jenny asked.

"About as fast at the TARDIS," Clara supplied.

Rose dialed up an uninhabited world. She checked the readout from the scanners built into the gate to confirm there was no threat near the destination gate and they stepped through.

"We're on a moon," Rose explained as she pointed up at the planet and sun in the sky. "On the other side of the Galaxy from Earth. The gate was placed on this moon because it is habitable while the planet itself has a highly toxic atmosphere."

They looked around the clearing of the light forest they seemed to be in with amazement. They were used to going places with a lot of people and activity, but this was more like a remote paradise, a perfect place to get away.

"It might be a little boring sometimes compared to traveling through time," Rose commented, "but there is something to be said for just wandering around the same time zone sometimes."

Clara took Rose's hand in her own and gave her a serene smile before leading others back to the gate and heading back to the Ancient hub.

 **.oOo.**

After taking their friends home, Rose and Clara decided to return to the moon they went to and give camping and hiking a try for a bit of relaxation. They found a nice little river to camp by and Clara set up a hammock between some trees near the shore while Rose gathered some dead wood for a fire.

On their third day there, as evening was setting in, Rose was sitting on a log with her arms around Clara who was sitting in front of her and they both had sticks with marshmallows roasting when they were surprised to sense other minds approaching.

Sam looked at the sweet sight they had wandered into with fondness and curiosity. These two girls obviously cared very deeply for each other, but they looked rather young. Why were they wandering the galaxy on their own?

Daniel noticed a soft smile on Sam's face and couldn't help but break into a grin of his own. They usually only see their allies in an official capacity, or worse, an emergency. It was exceedingly rare to ever see one just living their life.

Jack looked like he was about to interrupt their moment, but Clara beat him to it. "Well, don't just stand there. Grab some sticks and roast some marshmallows."

"How'd you know it was us," Jack asked as he picked up a stick and decided to join them.

Rather than tell the truth, or be mysteriously vague, Rose simply lifted her arm, showing her wrist computer as if that explained everything.

"Right," Jack said plainly as the rest of his team joined them around the fire.

"Is this your homeworld?" Daniel asked in his ever-curious manner.

"Nope," Clara answered.

"What brings you to a moon in the middle of nowhere," Sam inquired.

"Camping," Rose answered.

"Indeed," Teal'c said as he pulled a marshmallow off his stick and ate it.

"Any fish in that river," Jack asked getting into the spirit of things.

"You know," Clara started with a note of surprise in her voice, "I never even thought to check. Only did a scan for sentient life, of which there is none by the way."

"I should start bringing fishing gear on these treks," Jack said to his team and then a flash of purple light deposited a complete fishing pole with a few lures in front of him. After looking stunned at it for a moment, he gave up. "Thanks," he said as he walked over to the river and cast his line out.

Sam and Daniel just grinned while Teal'c raised his eyebrow and decided to join Jack to learn a bit about fishing.

"So, what brings _you_ to a moon in the middle of nowhere?" Rose asked after a moment of peaceful silence.

"Routine exploration mission," Sam supplied. "You said there's no sentient life. Did you by any chance detect any technology?"

"Just the Stargate," Clara confirmed.

"Well, we're not due back for a few more hours yet and it sounds like we won't find anything if we go searching," Daniel said in a slightly disappointed tone.

"There's Coke in the cooler if you want some," Clara said with a fond smile as Rose stuffed a golden toasted marshmallow into her mouth and sighed happily.

"You're really just out here camping?" Sam asked with a hint of disbelief.

"All work and no play makes for a very grumpy existence," Rose told her.

"Would you like us to leave?" Daniel asked, feeling like they were intruding on a private moment.

"Nah. We're just relaxing and enjoying the evening," Clara said.

Sam was about to ask another question when a beep from Rose's wrist device stopped her as the girl pressed a button and a hologram of a good-looking man appeared just above the device.

"Rosie! How's my little sister enjoying that moon we found?" Captain Jack asked cheekily.

Rose laughed in a musical way. "Quite lovely, Jack. What's up?"

"I was looking for that case of vortex manipulators you said you were going to leave in the control room but can't find them."

"Oh, Right. Sorry about that," she apologized. "I forgot about them. They should still be in our room in the Doctor's TARDIS, unless Clara moved them."

"Never touched them," Clara piped up.

"Understood. I'll look for them as soon as the Doctor gets back. Have a good time," he said and the hologram winked out.

"The life of an explorer," Sam quipped. "Never really off the clock."

"And that's exactly why we take moments like this when there's nothing pressing to just enjoy life," Clara agreed.

Daniel was looking at them thoughtfully as if puzzling out some new piece of information and Sam was smiling softly at them, when O'Neill and Teal'c walked back towards them.

"Look at what we caught!" Jack exclaimed happily, carrying a very large fish that resembled a bass of some type.

Rose took out her sonic and pointed it at the fish while it emitted its soft whirring sound. A moment later she looked satisfied. "It's safe to eat."

"Excellent," Jack proclaimed in a comical manner as he walked away a few yards to start preparing it to cook.

"I'm sorry if this sounds rude or condescending, but I just have to ask," Sam started, unable to contain her curiosity any longer. "How old are you? You seem rather young to be wandering around the galaxy."

"Curiosity is not a crime, Sam," Clara told her. "But first, how old would you think we are?"

"If I had to guess, based on your looks, mid-twenties."

"And if we were to tell you we are about a hundred years older than that?" Clara asked.

"I would ask how long a year on your world is."

"Oh, good counter. So, I'll answer," Clara informed her. "One of the few universal constants that all races seem to agree on, is the atomic decay rate that constitutes the unit of time you call a second. Others call it by other names, but it refers to the same unit of time. It is from this measurement of the second that most other time measurements are based on. Since humans are the most abundant sentient life in the galaxy, and most of them originated on Earth, we find it easier to use Earth time."

Sam could only stare at them in shock, so it was left to Daniel to ask, "So, you really are one-hundred-twenty some odd years old?"

"Yep," Rose said, popping the p. "And lookin' good if I do say so myself," she added cheekily.

"There is so much I wish we could talk about," Daniel started.

"You're both very curious people, we can tell that," Clara said as she glanced over at Jack and Teal'c to see Jack was teaching him about cleaning and skinning fish.

"So, how about the pair of you," Rose picked up quietly, "take the weekend off. Have Dinner at Sam's on Friday night. We can sit down and have a chat."

"Why not the Colonel and Teal'c?" Sam asked quietly.

"We'll explain when we meet you, as long as you don't tell anyone else we're meeting," Clara concluded as the others walked over with filets of fish in a grill trap.

"Oh, goodie. Fish and chips!" Rose said, beaming in a couple baskets of steaming fries with some cheese sauce on them.

Clara laughed at her wife's antics. "You're not going to be happy until we put a full-on chippy in the Den, are you?"

"I'll be alright," Rose countered. "As long as we stop off from time to time."

"Just as long as we never get those blue chips like they had on Rilos 7," Clara said in disgust and Rose shuddered at the memory.

"Okay," Jack said as he sat down and placed the fish grill in the fire. "There's something I really _don't_ want to know about."

That got a laugh out of everyone as they enjoyed a quiet evening together.

 **.oOo.**

Friday rolled around and both Sam and Daniel decided the follow the suggestion to take the weekend off. It wasn't until she was driving home that Sam realized she was going to have at least Daniel over as a guest. She liked to think they had become close friends in the few years they had been working together, but she realized she'd only interacted with him in a team setting.

Sam also realized that all she knew about their alien friend's tastes was that they liked fish and chips. She thought about what the girls had said while they chatted around a campfire, and decided not to panic and suggest they all go out to eat. With that decided, she pulled into her driveway and picked up around her house a bit while she waited.

About an hour later, Daniel arrived. They chatted for a few minutes and Sam was about to offer him a cup of coffee when they heard the sound they only associated with a black box and walked to the living room in time to see it appear.

Rose and Clara stepped out and smiled at them. "Wonderful," Clara said. "Are you both ready?"

"I actually wasn't sure what either of you might like beyond fish and chips, so I thought maybe we could find a restaurant," Sam said a little nervously.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Rose said. "Dinner was just an excuse to get you both together alone. Although, I'm sure we will all need a bit to eat after what we want to show you."

"Come on, then," Clara said, gesturing to the door of their box. "Let's have some questions and answers for appetizers." With that, she and Rose walked back into their black box.

Sam and Daniel glanced at each other and sighed, figuring this was going to be a tight squeeze he put his arm around her waist and they stepped in. The moment they crossed through the doorway, they were inside the perception field and their jaws fell open.

Daniel just whistled approvingly and nodded to himself as he took in the Ancient writing on the circular fixtures on the ceiling.

Sam, on the other hand, made the girls smile brightly. "But that's…" she tried to form some words but they escaped her for the moment. "It can't…" Finally, she turned around and walked back out, slowly walking around the box, patting each side of it, before walking back in.

"It's bigger on the inside!" Sam exclaimed in shock and disbelief.

"Is it?" Clara asked cheekily as Rose broke down laughing.

Daniel chuckled a little and Sam narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh, come on," he defended. "Our job involves stepping into a puddle on Earth and appearing out of a matching puddle halfway across the galaxy."

Sam snapped her mouth shut for a moment before responding. "Well, when you put it that way."

"Besides," he said looking at Sam with a twinkle in his eyes, "they're Ancients. I'm pretty sure they did everything big."

Now it was Rose's turn to drop her jaw and Clara chuckled at her. "Looks like it's your turn to make dinner, dear."

"Wait," Sam said in a bit of shock. "You really _are_ Ancients?"

"That's a long story that we can tell you in a bit, but the short answer is yes," Clara replied.

"How do you make it bigger on the inside?" Daniel asked.

"She's a TARDIS," Rose said as she patted the central console affectionately. "Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"It's a pocket dimension?!" Sam asked incredulously.

"It's a time machine?" Daniel asked just after her.

"Yes, to both," Clara told them, impressed that they put it together so fast.

"Clara," Rose said from the controls, "I'm putting the engines on silent for this trip. Will you engage the cloak on that panel over there and extend it for about five meters?"

"Done," Clara told her.

The central column, which Sam and Daniel had only just noticed was moving, stopped, and the girls led them outside. Heat and sand greeted them.

"Where are we," Sam asked, shielding her eyes from the sun.

"Giza, 1928," Daniel said softly. Sam followed his gaze and saw what had shocked him. There, only about fifty meters or so away, the Stargate was being hoisted up from its buried position.

"We shouldn't be here. Just by being here we could be changing the timeline!" Sam exclaimed.

"Relax," Rose said trying to calm her. "We're invisible. Clara set the cloak to cover a five-meter distance in any direction from the TARDIS."

"How much does a stargate weigh?" Clara asked them.

"Thirty-two _tons_ ," Sam replied.

"See what is possible when people work together?" Rose asked rhetorically.

"Why are you showing us this?" Daniel asked, starting to put a few more things together.

"Tell me," Clara began, "what would happen if I walked over to the person giving the orders over there, the one that has them all working together, and shot him dead?"

"They would either scatter in fear or turn on you and kill you," Sam answered in realization. "Either way, support fails and so does the objective."

They all stood there watching as the Stargate was set vertically, marveling at what an undertaking it was to accomplish before Rose spoke up.

"So, anyone for Italian?"

A little while later, they were all sitting at a table in the kitchen of the Wolf Den eating pasta while Sam was trying to grasp just how big the ship really was.

"It really is best not to think of it as a ship if you want to truly understand it," Clara told her.

"We only call it a ship, when we do, for simplicity sake," Rose admitted. "But really, the outer shell can take whatever form we want it to. We can even change the direction of the door. We could change the shell, and when you step out, you'd be in a moving van, or a space shuttle, or whatever else we want it to be."

"But how does that work?" Daniel asked seeing his friend wracking her brain trying to figure it all out.

"It's like Sam observed from the name," Clara said. "It's a pocket dimension. That door you walked through took you into a different dimension."

"So, it's not really moving when you travel then, right?" Sam asked. "When your box disappears, it's just the portal to this dimension sealing itself, and then you tell it to open where you want to go?"

"That pretty much sums it up," Rose said with a smile.

"I don't suppose you'd teach us how to make something like this, would you?" Sam asked.

"Sorry. Our ancestors didn't learn this until they had left the universe, and even then, it was a quirk of luck that they found a place to grow them," Rose confirmed.

" _Grow_?" Sam asked.

"Left the _universe_ ," was what Daniel stuck on.

"Whoops," Rose said with a blush that caused Clara to chuckle.

"We were going to tell them eventually, love."

"The quantum mirror," Sam whispered to herself in shock.

"You found that?!" Clara asked in surprise.

"You know about that?" Daniel asked.

"It was created by our ancestors and thought to be lost and destroyed. Can you tell us where you found it?" Clara continued.

"Well, it's in a secure facility at the moment," Sam started but Daniel cut her off.

"They want to know where we _found_ it, Sam, not where we took it."

"But, if they even went back in time to take it where we found it, it could cause a catastrophic paradox, Daniel. You might never go through it to get that warning!"

"I can assure you, we don't want to take it," Rose informed them.

"We just want to scan it to get a record of sorts from it, to help us build a database of other universes," Clara explained. "Right now, we only have three universes recorded. Anywhere we go other than those three will be completely random."

They all walked to the console room and Sam gave them the gate address while Daniel filled them in on the time he stepped through it. Setting the Wolf Den to silent and cloaked again, they landed just as past Daniel walked into the room and they watched him on the monitors.

"This is just weird," Daniel commented as he watched himself approach the device.

"Oh, WOW!" Clara exclaimed as they watched the scanner readouts while past Daniel was transported.

"Wow what?" Sam asked.

"It works on a decision cluster matrix. It's really a time portal that zaps you back to a different decision in time and then brings you back forward to your time in that different timeline!" Clara explained to them.

"And that's a good thing, right?" Daniel asked.

"Besides the fact that you could use it to prove something like the butterfly effect," Clara told them, "it also means that it has kept _very_ detailed logs."

"It's recorded over twelve-thousand different universes!" Rose said excitedly.

"Right then," Clara began. "Let's pop off to the library and we can have the discussion we promised you," she said as she led Sam and Daniel to the library.

 **.oOo.**


	12. Chapter 12: Snarling Wolf

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** I am beginning to understand why A/N's are so common with fic writers. I never intended to have so many notes on my story but feel the need to communicate some things with you dear readers more often than I expected. First, I am very sorry for the long delays between updates. I have no real excuse for this other than I'm erratic and eccentric. I have also been using this story as a way to try out some ideas I have for an original book I've had on the back burner for a long time. Second, that book is no longer on the back burner so, I don't know how much it will affect my ability to keep updating this story, but I will keep updating until it's finished. That said, this story gets a bit crazy in crossing over into Star Wars: Rebels and Harry Potter and possibly others. I hope you'll all stick with me though as it does eventually lead to something big. Also, sorry to the reviewer that was looking forward to the conversation mentioned at the end of the previous chapter. That was just an off-screen plot device to bring Sam and Daniel up to speed on the history of the girls, basically just a recap of the story so far.

 ** _Chapter 12: Snarling Wolf_**

Several months had passed since they told Sam and Daniel their story. They had agreed to keep it to themselves and so they also shared some of the history of the Ancients with them. Since then, they had gone to the Ida galaxy to meet with the Asgard and discovered something horrifying.

One of their ancestor's designs had been found and perverted into some type of endless eating and killing machine. Because it deviated so far from the original design, they couldn't shut the machines down. So, Clara was spending a lot of time in her lab dissecting everything the Asgard had on these replicators, while Rose was deep in the TARDIS using the control chair to interface directly with her and trace back the origins of this monstrosity through the timelines.

"Rose, Love, you need to take a break," Clara said as she walked into the chair room.

"I'll take a break when I find the lunatic that started this," Rose replied.

"Why do you keep pushing yourself like this?" Clara said in a raised voice. She was getting concerned with Rose's obsession over this.

Rose flinched slightly at the tone. She was usually happy to let Clara take the lead in most things, but she felt like this, this… _horror_ was a personal slap in the face. "You wouldn't understand."

"Why?" Clara asked in that way only she had that could make a single simple word sound like an accusation.

"Because I will _NOT_ let this happen again!" Rose shouted.

"Again? What are you on about?" Clara was growing even more concerned about her wife by the second and for once didn't have a clue how to help her. When Rose disengaged the chair and stood abruptly, she had a wild look in her glazed eyes.

"Because by the time I could do anything about the Daleks, they had already come so close to irrevocably destroying our _universe_!" Her shouting was frantic now, and her body shook with a mixture of rage and barely contained sobs.

Clara thought that maybe Rose had fallen asleep in the chair and nightmares had overcome her while she was trying to trace the source of the replicators. Obviously, she still had some issues she needed to deal with.

"Love, the Daleks are all gone. You never have to worry about them ever again," Clara said as she took a careful step towards her.

"I KNOW THAT!" Rose screamed. The words had barely passed her lips when she collapsed to the floor in a sobbing heap.

Clara had no idea what was happening to her wife but did the only thing she could think to do. She put her arms around Rose and beamed them directly to their bed. After changing Rose and herself into something more comfortable, she laid down next to Rose and pulled her into a tight embrace, running her fingers through Rose's hair and whispering in a soothing manner to her.

Rose suddenly kissed her, not with her usual passion, but with a desperate need, as if she was afraid Clara would disappear in a wisp of smoke. She let this go on for as long as Rose needed, and held tight even after they both finally fell asleep in exhaustion.

The next morning, Rose woke still in Clara's arms with her wife stroking her hair lovingly and holding her as tight as possible. In a rush, the previous afternoon came back to her and she was horrified.

"Oh, my god! Clara, I'm so so sorry! What have I done?!" she sobbed.

"Shhh, it's okay, love. I'm here. I've got you." Clara was just glad that whatever it was had passed, but she was still worried.

"I don't know what came over me. I just felt like I was exploding inside."

"I think it was mostly that you've been working yourself too hard, love. But there was obviously something upsetting you that fueled your outburst."

"I remember feeling helpless about the Daleks, and thinking these replicators make the Daleks look like disobedient puppies, but at least they are contained to a single galaxy. I just got so angry because I was feeling helpless again. And then I wondered what would happen if they spread beyond just the Ida galaxy."

"Well, I have some good news, bad news, and more good news for you then," Clara said.

"What happened?" Rose asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Our Dear kept working on the trace you started while we were sleeping. She found the origin. Unfortunately, it originated here in the Milky Way. It seems though that they all wound up in Ida for some reason."

"What was the origin?" Rose asked.

"An android modeled after a child, even the personality matrix."

"How can you know that?"

"She already brought us back to our time and the android was still there, but with no power. Dear beamed her aboard and put her in a time lock chamber in my lab and already began scanning the code."

"Well, then let's get some breakfast and see if we can put an end to these things," Rose said with conviction.

 **.oOo.**

Several weeks later, instead of fishing like he had planned, Jack was preparing himself to die. They had just barely managed to save Teal'c when the controls stopped working so they had no way to warn Earth either. A moment later, Jack could hear some of the bugs in the wall.

"Thor was correct," Teal'c said. "We are going to die."

"Awe, come on, Teal'c, lighten up. We've been in these situations before," Jack told him.

Sam had to speak up at that. "No, sir, we haven't."

"We haven't?" Jack asked. He could have sworn they had been.

They all looked around as they felt a slight shudder through Thor's ship.

"The vessel is beginning its descent," Teal'c observed.

They all looked at each other thinking about that, pondering the right time to blow the engine, but Sam's mind was working furiously on trying to find a way for them off the ship.

"I have an idea, sir," she said, but before she could elaborate, they felt a much more violent shaking of the ship that threw them all off balance for a moment.

"What the hell was _that_?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, sir. Maybe the replicators aborted?" Sam proposed.

A moment later, they could hear slamming sounds of doors closing all over their section of the ship, except for their door, which slammed open.

"Carter?" Jack asked.

"I have no idea, sir, it wasn't me."

Then they heard another sound, one they had come to associate with the appearance of a black box nearby. This time, however, it sounded different. It sounded _angry_. They all looked out the doorway and saw the black box _flying_ towards them at insane speeds. They jumped out of its way only for it to very suddenly stop and slam down in the middle of the room and a visible shield sprang to life around them all from the box.

The doors swung open and Clara stepped out. "Get in!" she commanded them. Sam grabbed Thor's stasis pod and they all rushed through the doors with Clara close behind, closing the doors behind them.

Jack and Teal'c were staring in shock when Clara spoke seriously. "Yes, it's bigger on the inside. No, I don't have time to explain. Sit down, strap in, or grab ahold of something, now!"

Rose looked up from the main console and spoke to Clara. "I've blown the transporters, generators, and engines. Even if the tow beam breaks, they are dead in space for a while. Link the outer shell to the ship."

They all heard another loud thud before Clara responded. "Outer shell linked. Ready to pull it into the Howling for testing."

Rose ran around the center console pressing buttons and flipping switches before pulling the main lever and they could all hear the now stressed wheezing and groaning sound as the entire console room shook about for a few moments.

Soon after, the center pillar stopped moving, another thud could be heard, and several holographic screens sprang up around the room. One of the screens was a live feed showing the bugs swarming against the shield in the room outside.

"Okay, Rose. We're in between, unlinked, and they are swarming on their own. You wanted them, you've got them."

Rose didn't say anything as she worked furiously at the controls. They could all see the screen with a diagram of Thor's ship, and they watched as a bubble appeared around it. She glared viciously at the display as she pulled a final lever, and they could all see the bubble rapidly collapse taking the ship with it until there was a bang and they were all rattled about for a moment.

"Scanning…" Clara said as she worked one of the outer control panels for a few tense seconds. "It worked! Everything between the shields has been completely atomized."

Sam goggled at that statement. "You _atomized_ the entire ship?"

"Now, that's what I call pest control," Jack said to ease the tension in the room.

"Indeed," Teal'c said in his usual stoic manner.

"Hold on," Rose said with a note of panic in her voice. "Where's Daniel?"

"He's at the SGC, in the infirmary," Sam said quickly, realizing she might be thinking he had been on the ship when she destroyed it.

"What happened to him?" Clara asked.

"Appendix," Jack supplied.

Rose and Clara both winced at that. "Okay," Rose said. "And what happened to Thor?"

"He was dying," Sam said with a note of sadness in her voice. "I had to active his stasis pod."

"Alright, then. I'll take Thor to the infirmary. Rose, let's go pick up Daniel and we can get him fixed up as well," Clara said as she gently pushed the stasis pod down the hall.

"Can we also let the SGC know that there is no longer a threat? Might help… calm some things down." Jack requested.

General Hammond and Major Davis were each on different phones trying to coordinate with different commands to figure out what exactly was going on when Daniel was beamed out of the control room and a hologram of Jack replaced him.

"All clear, sir," Jack told him. "We just beamed Daniel up because they're going to fix him up so he doesn't have to spend a week in the infirmary, sir."

"Well done, Colonel."

"Oh, it wasn't us, sir. We'll fill you in when we get back. Just popping back to get Thor home."

"Very well. We'll debrief then," Hammond agreed and the hologram disappeared.

Rose led SG-1 down to the infirmary where Thor was just stepping out of the door and Sam gasped at seeing him walking around so soon. "Thor, we were worried about you."

"I am fine," he told them simply.

"Right, then. Clara, here's Daniel. They might also enjoy a bit of information on the nanogenes while I bring Thor up to speed," she told her wife as she led Thor back to the console room.

"Have a seat, Daniel. This will only take a second," Clara told him as he sat down. When the rest of the team was in the room, she shut the door and Daniel was surrounded by what looked like a haze of softly glowing gold dust.

The dust seemed to settle around where his incision was. He felt a brief twinge, and then he felt fine. Better than fine really. The glow faded and he pulled up his shirt to see there was barely a scar at all.

"Whoa!" Jack said succinctly.

"Yeah," Clara said in agreement. "Nanogenes are handy little medical nanites that get into your body and repair you at a cellular level, after scanning your DNA to ensure they fix you up how you should be."

"Well," Jack began, "after seeing this box isn't as tight a squeeze as we thought, I don't think anything would surprise me now."

"Well, maybe next time we'll show you the gardens," Clara quipped as she led them back to the console room.

"So," Daniel interrupted before Jack could say anything else. "When are we taking Thor back home?"

"We're already three systems away and waiting as the Asgard fleet retreats to their home system," Rose informed them as they walked into the console room.

"All vessels report clear and have declared this section of empty space quarantined," Thor said.

Clara walked over to another panel and pressed a few buttons. "Okay, the return command has been issued. It should reach several hundred light years beyond the galaxy itself. Is the fleet monitoring all the replicator activity?"

"Yes," Thor acknowledged. "They report that they have all begun moving to this region. They should all be here in a little under two days."

"Good," Rose said with a predatory grin.

 **.oOo.**

It was three days later that SG-1 was sitting down with General Hammond to explain what had happened. It was actually the report on Rose and Clara's Wolf Den that took the most time during the debrief.

"So, let me get this straight," Hammond started. "They trapped these bugs and reduced them to atoms and saved the Asgard by doing so?"

"Pretty much, sir," Sam concluded.

"I am really glad we met them as friends instead of enemies," Daniel observed.

"Can you elaborate on that, Dr. Jackson?"

"Well, er, it's rather…" Daniel was stammering because he was thinking about meeting them with Sam, not their most recent encounter.

"I think what he means, sir," Sam covered for him, "is that they didn't just wipe out the bugs. The replicators had control of nearly a third of the Asgard fleet. In the trap they set, they didn't just atomize the bugs, but also that third of the quite impressive Asgard fleet of ships, sir."

Hammond looked a little more surprised at that and then thought for a few moments. "I think I agree with your sentiment, Dr. Jackson."

 **.oOo.**

"Clara," Rose started as they were getting ready for bed one night, "I've been thinking about the Asurans we came across in the database."

"What about them?"

"Well, if they rebuilt the same as they were before our ancestors attempted to purge them, they should operate based on a central core computer system," Rose said, mostly thinking out loud.

"Yeah, that's right. Got an idea for that, have you?"

"Would it be possible for you to write an AI that could replace that core and take control of all those nanites after a master wipe?" Rose inquired.

"Hmmm? What do you… OH! Oh, that is good. But what would we do with the planet?" Clara asked curiously. It was one thing to have an almost fully automated planet, but what would be the point?

"Honestly, I don't know, yet. I'm just working through some ideas in my head is all," Rose said.

"Well, that's a brilliant one to add to the list," Clara told her proudly.

"The planet is about four or five times the size of Earth, right?" Rose asked.

"Somewhere around there," Clara confirmed. "But only one continent, about the size of Australia, is inhabited by the machines."

"What if we set up a portion of the nanites solely for farming and food production?" Rose asked, but still with a hint of concern in her voice.

"That might be possible. It's not what to do with the planet that's bothering you though, is it?" Clara asked with a sense of worry.

Rose smiled sheepishly at her observant wife. "It's that obvious, is it?"

"A little bit, yeah. What's on your mind?"

"Well, I know I went a little bit overboard with the replicators," Rose said. "But at least they weren't sentient. It sounds like these Asurans might be."

"And you're worried about the possibility of genocide again?"

Rose nodded.

Clara looked at her for a few moments, lost in thought, before an idea came to her. "How about we bring the Doctor in on this. He can study them with us if he has time and maybe even negotiate with them. If that doesn't work, then we can worry about what to do with them."

Rose looked a little concerned at that idea. "That was my first thought too. But we can't always run to the Doctor when things look too big and scary for us."

"Rose," Clara started. "This was exactly why we had our intervention with the Doctor, remember? He felt he had to do so much all on his own, and we showed him he has people to fall back on for help and support. But so do we."

A look of surprise and relief washed over Rose. "I can't believe I hadn't thought of it from that angle before."

"No one is perfect, love. Not you, not me, not even the Doctor or our ancestors."

"That might be true, but you come pretty close," Rose said with a smile.

Clara blushed slightly as the praise. "We can go see the Doctor in the morning."

"Okay. Let's get a good night's sleep then," Rose said. "It's probably going to take a long time to explain all of this."

As they settled in for sleep, Rose felt as if a weight had been lifted from her. She was glad this wasn't something they would have to do alone and that they could get advice and possibly help from someone like the Doctor. With that thought in mind, she curled up close to Clara and fell into a deep restful sleep.

 **.oOo.**

When the girls stepped out of their TARDIS into Demons Run, they were surprised to see not only the Doctor's TARDIS next to theirs where they landed but also a cylinder generic shaped TARDIS, except instead of the same greyish silver they would have expected from that shape, it was polished gold with red trim.

When its door opened and out walked the Doctor with a regal looking woman that wasn't River Song, they grew slightly concerned.

"Rose, Clara," the Doctor started when he saw their confused expressions. "I would like you to me Romana, Lady President of Gallifrey."

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," Clara said. "Forgive me if this sounds rude, but I'm confused. I thought the Doctor was the Lord President."

Romana chucked at that. "The Doctor never was fond of the office. This was his third time being our President and he once again snubbed his nose at it."

"Oh please," the Doctor scoffed. "You were always better in that position than I ever was and we both know it. I just can't stay still long enough to be effective."

"But, what about the plan, Doctor?" Rose asked, still rather confused.

"The Doctor has brought me up to speed on everything you have done and the mission of Torchwood. I fully agree and endorse it wholeheartedly," Romana said with a note of pride in her voice. "Frankly, I'm quite relieved that this will give us some time to heal our wounds from the Time War, and the damage Rassilon caused us."

"We used to travel together," the Doctor said.

"And you only take the best," Clara said with a smile. She was pleased to see a slight blush on Romana's cheeks.

"So, what brings you back here? I would have thought you'd be gallivanting across different universes by now," the Doctor queried.

"We actually came to see you, Doctor," Rose said. "We have a situation we could use your input on."

"Well," Romana started. "I shall leave you to it then. I should be getting back anyway. I've been away for far too long as it is."

"Lady President," Clara said with a smirk. "That is a _time machine_ you have there."

Romana laughed lightly at that. "It is indeed. That doesn't mean I don't miss home now and again, however. Doctor, Rose, Clara," she said nodding at each of them in turn.

"I'll be around," the Doctor said to her. "You know how to find me."

With farewells said, Romana stepped back into her TARDIS and disappeared.

The Doctor spun around and hugged the two girls who each let out a surprised squeak. "Thank you for rescuing me from her. I hate talking about official duties and such nonsense!"

Clara laughed as he released them. "It doesn't matter what face you have, you'll always be the same Doctor."

"That's good," the Doctor said. "Why would I want to be someone other than me?"

Rose shook her head, chuckling at his antics. "So, what's the story behind someone else taking over as president?"

"It's simple, really," he replied. "She's better at it. Has a knack for politicking and all that dirty dealing stuff that goes with it, but manages to keep a good moral center at the same time. Don't have a clue how she does it, honestly."

"Well, subtle was never one of your strong points, was it doctor?" Clara mused.

"No," he agreed. "But dodging is still one of yours I see. What's happened?"

Rose sighed, knowing they would have to tell him if they wanted his help. "We were hoping you could take a look at some technical stuff with us; communications, programming, nanites and the like."

"Surely you picked up enough knowledge during your time in the Nexus or from that Ancient Repository to be able to make sense of that," the Doctor said.

"But you have more experience," Rose countered.

"Rose," Clara started, knowing why she was being so evasive. "This is the Doctor. He's not going to hate you, especially for asking for help."

"Show me," was all the Doctor said. He knew that if Rose was that worried about whatever was going on, and seemingly more worried about his potential reaction, that it must be something serious. He wasn't going to let her down, not after she healed his broken hearts.

 **.oOo.**

"That is some impressive technology," the Doctor said a few days later as they were going over all the data they had on the Asurans in the Ancient gate hub. "And this satellite you have in orbit over their continent is feeding us live data?"

"Yes. Well, mostly. There is a bit of a delay because of the distances involved, but otherwise, yes, it's a live feed," Rose told him.

"The aggression coding I'm seeing here," he said in a concerned voice, "reminds me of the Daleks but focused on a single species rather than anything different like the Daleks were. Do you know how it was sealed away?"

"We think the Wraith somehow managed to seal it off without altering the base code," Clara told him. "How exactly they did that we don't know yet. But the more pressing concern is the non-programmed aggression we are seeing floating around their networks. It looks like they have been unsuccessfully trying to alter their own base code and it's starting to create anomalies."

"Why not just wipe the core and start from scratch then?" he asked as if it were the simplest idea in the world.

Rose looked startled at that, but Clara placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her before turning back to the Doctor.

"That's what we were thinking as well," Clara told him. "But it feels a little too close to genocide, and we've done far too much of that already, even if they were evil races that deserved it. We want to at least try to meet them before considering something like that."

The Doctor surprised them both by smiling brightly. "Wonderful answer. Something that drastic should always be a last resort, if it's even considered at all. When do we leave?"

Rose just stared at him in shock, while Clara giggled at his exuberance. When Rose finally recovered, she filled him in. "We don't want to give any possible hint of anything to do with other universes, so we're uploading a new outer shell configuration to the Wolf Den."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at that, so Clara reached over and tapped a few controls on the display, bringing up the schematics for an Ancient Explorer Class Ship. "It's based roughly on that, but with a lot of upgrades. If they can penetrate our shields to scan us, we want to register as completely Ancient. There is a part of their programming that makes them incapable of harming an Ancient."

"That's… a good idea. I would never have thought of something like that. Huh. Maybe I should look into upgrading the TARDIS chameleon circuit."

"I suspect it would make the whole 'inconspicuous' angle work a lot easier," Rose said with a humorous smile.

 **.oOo.**

Three days later found the Doctor, Clara, and Rose approaching the dwarf galaxy that held the Asuran world. They had decided to make the journey in ship form to cause fewer questions in case the Asurans were able to track ships in or out of hyperspace. They did, however, decide against traveling via hyperspace, instead opting to use the extremely upgraded faster-than-light engines that were in some cases faster than hyperspace travel.

"You know," the Doctor seemed to whine slightly, "I have decided not to make these adjustments to my TARDIS. I know it's just a shakedown cruise on the way there, but it's sooooooooo slow!"

"Most people can't travel instantly, Doctor," Clara said with a laugh. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with a bit of flash now and then."

Rose smiled half-heartedly at hearing that. She was trying to be upbeat, but she had a growing sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. She could feel a similar, but not nearly as intense sense of worry from Clara, but a bouncy, almost childlike sense of excitement from the Doctor. She took comfort in the excitement she felt from her friend. It felt like the old days almost, except instead of a console room, they were all currently sitting on the bridge of a highly advanced spaceship that was really the outer shell of her own TARDIS. She still had trouble wrapping her mind around that sometimes.

"We're about half an hour away," Clara said, breaking Rose from her inner thoughts. She nodded and they all started preparing themselves.

When they dropped out of FTL, the Doctor whistled appreciatively. "Okay, I might rethink my decision," he said as he looked out the viewport. "There is something to be said for approaching a world in this manner. That is a sight to behold, isn't it?"

This time, Rose smiled genuinely at him. He was usually the most impressive person in any given situation, so it was a nice change to see him rather impressed.

"We're in orbit, love," Clara said from her control station. "I detect three ships rising from the surface to intercept us."

"We better introduce ourselves then, don't you think?" Rose asked. Before anyone else could respond, she flipped a switch to turn on the holographic communications system, projecting herself directly into the primary gate room in the capital city.

"Greetings," Rose began officially to the gathered figures. "I am Rose, of the Explorer Vessel _Wolf Den_. We are here on a mission of discovery. To whom am I speaking?"

"I am Oberoth," a tall yet balding man spoke as he stepped forward. "High Councilor of Asuras. Our scans indicate your vessel is of Ancient origin. What is the meaning of this intrusion?"

Rose looked stunned at how quickly they had been scanned, and the tone of voice used but tried to make progress anyway. "I apologize for our intrusion. We mean no disrespect. We have come here to open a dialogue and possibly diplomatic relations with your people."

Oberoth looked to several others in the forming crowd, who in turn looked at each other before he spoke again. "You are not from Atlantis, then?"

"No," Rose confirmed. "It is our understanding that our Ancient ancestors abandon the city just before they departed this existence. May we transport down for proper introductions?"

Again, several figures in the crowd looked at each other, before Oberoth reluctantly agreed. "You may transport to this location and we will take you to the Council Chambers."

Rose smiled slightly in gratitude, before flicking the hologram off and turning to the Doctor. "I don't know what it is," she started, "but something seems off about them. Their body language and mannerisms are screaming that something is wrong but I can't put my finger on it."

"They are probably just as nervous as you are. It seems like the last iteration of the Ancients they had contact with gave them cause for concern," he replied.

"We're ready to beam down," Clara informed them as she stepped away from her post. "The ship will stay in geosynchronous orbit and we can beam back with a tap of our wrists."

Soon after, they were standing in the gate room and led to the council chambers. Once there, Rose spoke again. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us. I am Rose, this is my wife, Clara, and this is our friend, the Doctor."

"I am Oberoth, High Councilor of Asuras. This is Niam, Councilor for the Scientific Advisory board, and Mara, Councilor for the Systems Integration board. What is it that brought you to Asuras?"

"We found a database left behind by the Ancients," Rose began with a half-truth. No reason to tell them everything after all. "It was surprisingly brief in its mention of your world and creation but contained enough information to make us curious. We thought it might be a good idea to open relations in friendship to possibly learn from each other."

"Learn? What might we learn from you?" Oberoth asked in a slightly condescending manner.

"Well, that's sort of the point of this," Rose said, trying to keep the worry off her face. "To discover if there is any way to create a mutually beneficial relationship."

"Is there anything you can teach us about ascension?" Niam asked, causing Oberoth to look at him sharply.

"Sadly," Clara began, "We know very little about that. Only the concept of it, really."

"Doctor," Rose spoke quietly for only him to hear. "I can only sense you and Clara. I can't sense any other minds or emotions."

"Perhaps," the Doctor spoke up to buy some time, "we could return to our ship and make a copy of everything in the database that we have relating to ascension. It shouldn't take very long. And when we return, perhaps we could trade it for some of your history?"

Oberoth was still glaring at Niam before he turned back to their guests and responded tonelessly. "Very well. We will meet back here in one hour."

With that decided, the three beamed back to the ship, making no note of the three ships from Asuras that stilled hovered around them.

"You didn't sense anything at all from them?" the Doctor asked the moment they were back on board.

"Not a thing," Rose confirmed with a shudder. "If I had been blindfolded, I would have sworn it was just you and Clara down there with me."

 **.oOo.**

"The data module is all set," the Doctor said as he walked back onto the bridge nearly an hour later. "She's a feisty one too," he continued as he looked at Clara. "What did you base the core of the AI around?"

Clara smirked at him. "We took a copy of River from the Library computer core."

The Doctor's eyes went wide as dinner plates at hearing that while Rose chuckled lightly at his reaction. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked.

"She's your wife, Doctor," Clara said with a little bit of confusion.

"That's exactly my point."

This time Rose cracked up and the Doctor looked at her with mock outrage. "You should see your face, Doctor. Absolutely priceless."

"I'm glad you think it's funny," he said, still with a mock serious look on his face. "But I will not be held responsible when this galaxy becomes a den of thieves."

"Let's head down there, shall we?" Clara asked with a smirk firmly in place.

When they beamed into the council chambers, they were surprised to see only Oberoth at the conference table. "Welcome back," he said as he stood and rounded the table, opening his arms slightly in a gesture of welcome. "I'm glad to see you are quite punctual."

"We try to make a good impression," Rose said with a slight smile, trying and mostly succeeding in looking calm. Something seemed odd about Oberoth's behavior compared to earlier, but she couldn't place exactly what it was.

"A gesture that is much appreciated, I assure you," he responded as he stopped in front of Rose. "It will make this far simpler."

"Make what simpler?" Clara asked in confusion.

"The interrogation, of course," Oberoth said plainly. Without any warning, he jabbed his hand forward and the Doctor was shocked to see his fingers slide into Rose's forehead without any trace of a wound.

"AHHHH!" Rose screamed as she fell to her knees. Both the Doctor and Oberoth were surprised when Clara also screamed and fell to her knees as well, clutching her head between her hands.

"Most intriguing," the Asuran said as if examining a scientific curiosity.

"What have you done to them?!" the Doctor shouted as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at Oberoth threateningly.

Oberoth looked at the screwdriver for a moment and then at the Doctor. "Your device cannot harm me. I'm merely reading her mind. I must say though, it is surprisingly difficult for a mere human."  
While he was looking at the Doctor, however, he failed to notice Clara reach over and take Rose's hand in her own. The moment their hands were clasped, several things happened at once. The girls stopped screaming, their faces showing instead a mix of rage and determination, and a purple aura of energy sprang up around their connected form. The room felt as if it were shaking slightly and Oberoth yelped in surprise, trying to pull his hand away, but finding himself unable to.

"What have you done to me?" he asked in a demanding tone.

"What you tried to do to us," the girls spoke in unison, creating an ethereal echo quality to their combined voice. "We came here in peace to try to foster friendship. Instead, we find a society of psychotic nanodroids. We see all that travels across your subspace networks. There is no love or curiosity or redeemable qualities anywhere in your computerized hive of a mind, only hatred for the ancestors and a drive to find and destroy all they held dear."

"Rose, Clara, what's happening?" the Doctor asked. He was worried about them, their pulsing aura of energy and combined voice reminding him too much of Bad Wolf.

"We need the module," they said with a note of finality in their combined voice.

"Are you sure about this?" the Doctor asked. He agreed to bring it along as an insurance policy but really hoped not to need to use it.

"There is no life here," they said with a purple fire burning in their eyes. "They have altered their own programming around their base code to systematically destroy anything our ancestors valued. But they still have the directive to destroy the Wraith, which has been circumvented, and so they intend to destroy them the only way they can, by destroying their food supply."

"But that would mean…" the Doctor trailed off with a look of horror on his face.

"Yes, Doctor. They plan to wipe humanity from the galaxy."

The Doctor pulled the data module from his pocket and placed it into Rose's outstretched hand. He watched as she extended the data terminals from one end and proceeded to slam it into Oberoth's head.

Several minutes passed in which the room was flooded with security that moved towards them in a progressively slower fashion until they were all stood perfectly still, with arcs of electricity passing over each of them in time with the pulsing of the girls' purple aura.

Finally, the pulsing of the aura stopped, the arcing of the electricity stopped, and all the Asurans seemed to dissolve into metallic dust. When the purple aura faded from the girls and they released their hands, they collapsed to the floor.

The Doctor ran over to Rose first, checking her head for any sign of injury from the attack, but finding none. He then checked on Clara and found they both were alive. Taking both their hands, he beamed the three of them back up to the ship and took them to the med bay.

 **.oOo.**


	13. Chapter 13: Far, Far Away

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** From here, we will also start exploring some other universes, including Star Wars at various eras, starting with the 'Rebels' era. This will obviously be AU Rebels. For those of you that have been so patient with me in my crazy life of infrequent uploading, here is another chapter. And the best part is, within the next hour or two, I will be posting Chapter 14 as well. I had been planning to always be 10 chapters ahead, but that's simply not going to happen. I still plan to stay a few chapters ahead at least, but since I gave up on 10… might as well let you reap the rewards. Enjoy!

 ** _Chapter 13: Far, Far Away._**

When Rose woke half a day later, she found herself lying in bed with Clara clinging to her for dear life. Seeing that they were still both dressed in the same clothes, she resolved to finish her work on her nanite clothing-armor necklace idea as her next project. When Clara began to stir next to her, Rose smiled at her, thankful that they both came through okay.

"Rise and shine sleepy head," Rose said as she kissed her on the cheek.

"No," Clara whined playfully. "Too comfy."

Rose laughed at that and snuggled in closer to her wife. "I know, but I promise, after we finish up and get the Doctor home, we can take another relaxing vacation, maybe someplace with a beach and warm swimmable seas."

Clara's eyes fluttered open and she smiled brightly up at her love. "That sounds like a wonderful idea."

"Come on then," Rose said as she patted Clara's leg gently. "Up we get. Let's get showered and changed and some food in us before we hunt down the Doctor."

 **.oOo.**

When they did eventually find the Doctor, he was surprisingly in the med bay looking over the scans he took of the girls. As they walked in he looked at them in shock. "Why didn't you tell me?" The girls looked at each other in confusion before looking back to the Doctor.

"Tell you what?" Rose asked.

"That you're also part TARDIS."

"What?" Clara gaped at him.

"You didn't know?"

"Doctor," Rose started. "When we were in the Nexus and had our physical forms changed, we were changed to the most advanced possible version of the Ancients. Nothing else mixed in."

"But look, here," the Doctor said as he pointed to displays in front of him. "This section of your DNA, as well as this section on this strand, and this other section over here, they are identical to some of the DNA not just from your TARDIS, but from mine as well."

"What would that mean, though?" Clara asked with a little bit of shock in her voice.

"I'm not entirely sure without doing some more detailed tests," he explained. "I only did these brief tests to make sure you were going to be okay. But if it's true that you are only Ancient in your physiology, then that would mean the TARDISes of Gallifrey are also part Ancient."

"Well, then, how about we finish up with the Asuran planet and then we can do some tests before we head back to Torchwood," Rose suggested.

"Oh," the Doctor said a little sheepishly. "I forgot to mention, River is taking care of the planet, or at least the AI you based on her is. Calls herself Mel, actually."

"Before we do any tests, let's ask the TARDIS what she knows about it," Clara suggested.

The TARDIS was already explaining it with mind speak to Rose and Clara. While the Doctor could sense some telepathic communication happening, he couldn't tell who was saying what to whom. He had to assume because of this that part of the DNA had to do with their communication with the ship, since Time Lords that bonded with TARDISes didn't have such a strong connection. When the girls both gasped in shock, he became alarmed.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"We were wrong," Rose said in an awe-filled voice. "The TARDIS added something to us when we were being upgraded to Ancients."

"How so?" the Doctor asked in concern.

"She enhanced our mental capabilities," Clara responded. "That's why we were able to fight off Oberoth and also the reason we have the gift of languages."

Rose took her sonic from her wrist holder and held it out in her palm, focusing intently on it as the Doctor and Clara looked on. After another moment, the sonic began to float over her open palm, before a shocked look came across Rose's face and it dropped back to her palm.

"Let's get back to Torchwood and we can explore this further," the Doctor suggested.

 **.oOo.**

"Do you have any idea why you never noticed this ability before?" the Doctor asked several weeks later while working with the girls on their apparent talent for levitation.

"I honestly never thought about it," Rose replied after taking a drink of water as they finished their training session.

"The telepathy and controlling it was enough of a surprise and that took us several years to master while we were in the Nexus," Clara supplied.

"Well," the Doctor began, "it's not all that strange of a step going from telepathy to telekinesis really. The parts of the brain responsible for both are even intertwined in some places. I suppose it makes sense that this ability would eventually develop as well."

Rose frowned for a moment before speaking up again. "I would have thought this was something we would have discovered after a century spent learning and training in the Nexus."

"It's entirely possible you did and simply didn't realize it," the Doctor speculated.

"How do you mean, Doctor?" Clara asked in confusion.

The doctor sat down in the large hanger where he had been helping the girls to practice their new skills, a thoughtful look crossing his face. "From how you described your time there, it sounds like this Nexus is a place of pure energy, no physicality at all."

"That's about right," Rose agreed. "But there were times that little pocket spaces were created for us, similar to how Bad Wolf created that abstract construct to put Clara back together again."

"Those were far and few between," Clara added. "Mostly places created so we could sleep, rest, eat, breath, basically so that out minds and souls didn't forget how to work with a physical body."

"If you never practiced your abilities while in those physical moments," the Doctor started, "and only practiced while in the state of energy, it's likely that you thought the ability you were using was simply another part of your telepathy."

"I suppose that's the only explanation that makes any sense right now," Clara agreed.

"Well, you have a pretty good grip on it now," the Doctor said with a smile.

"You think so?" Rose asked.

"Sure," the Doctor said. "I've met very few telekinetic species in my travels and you seem to be just as well versed as they were."

"Thank you, Doctor," Clara said a bit sheepishly. "That means a lot."

 **.oOo.**

"Are you sure there's nothing you need us to do before we leave?" Rose asked the next day as she and Clara were getting ready to head back to the ancient hub.

"Positive," Jack said as he hugged Rose and then Clara.

"And if we do need you for anything specific, we promise to call," the Doctor said.

"Thank you, Doctor," Rose said as she pulled him into a hug. "You've been a wonderful help, as always."

"Thank YOU for those wonderful necklaces you've made," the Doctor countered. "I don't think I'm ready to give up the TARDIS wardrobe just yet, but these will still be a great help," he smiled at them both.

"Have a safe trip!" Jenny yelled as Rose and Clara stepped into their TARDIS and closed the doors. A moment later, the Wolf Den disappeared with that wheezing, groaning sound.

"Are we ready to cross the void?" Rose asked from the center console.

"Just finished putting in the calculation," Clara replied from the side console.

"Alright, let's get going then."

Clara threw the switch that pulled them out of the universe, but before they could slip through to the next one, the cloister bell rang out and red emergency lights filled the console room as a violent shudder shook them.

"What the hell was that?!" Rose screamed as the TARDIS continued the shake around and sparks started to fly from the side console.

"I don't know," Clara replied as she tried to figure out what was happening. "I can't make any sense of the readings on the instruments right now!"

"Try taking the Void engines offline," Rose said.

Clara was desperately trying to get the ship back under control, but even more sparks flew out of her panels when she tried to turn the Void engines off. "It's not working! It feels like she fighting me!"

"Try just switching them over to neutral!" Rose called out as she tried to stabilize them from the main console.

A moment later, the TARDIS stopped shaking and everything seemed calm, yet the central rotor was still moving up and down and the clouds of black and purple energy within them seemed to be almost boiling.

"That seemed to do it," Clara said after a moment while still looking at the display. "The void engines are in neutral but we're still moving through the void itself, I don't understand…"

Rose grumbled something as she made adjustments to the central console, putting the entire ship into neutral, essentially setting them to drift.

"What was that?" Clara asked.

"I've seen this happen before," Rose replied. "The Doctor's TARDIS sometimes fought against where he was trying to take us and would instead take us somewhere else."

"Why?" was all Clara could ask.

"Usually it was somewhere the Doctor was needed to help," Rose told her. "I just asked her though, and she said something is pulling on us, trying to guide us. Putting her in neutral like we just did will let that happen without causing any damage."

Suddenly, the cloister bell stopped ringing, the wheezing and groaning of the rotor slowed, then finally stopped with a loud thud indicating they had landed. Rose and Clara looked at each other for a moment before pulling up a holographic display.

"Well, wherever we are," Clara started, "it's not a universe that's been charted by the quantum mirror."

"Lovely," Rose started to reply, but she was cut off by the sound of a much lighter thump from the direction of the doors.

 **.oOo.**

"What… happened?" she asked herself, letting out a groan as she tried with great difficulty to sit up. _I hurt in places I didn't even know could hurt_. After several long moments, she finally pulled herself to her feet and looked around. To the left and behind her, she saw a dark black cloud slowly dissipating, revealing the destroyed remains of the temple.

Squinting her eyes, she could just make out a figure with a flowing black cape, limping heavily towards the edge of the top of the temple. _Even with his obviously weakened state, I am in no condition to resume the fight_.

Trying to work out what to do now, she was halted by a wheezing, groaning sound that seemed to be coming from the bottom of the stairs she was at the top of. Whipping her head in that direction proved to be a mistake as the throbbing in her head worsened and her vision started to fade before she collapsed and tumbled down the stone stairway.

She barely registered that she landed against something that felt like a mix of metal and crystal before she fell into unconsciousness. A moment later, the strange material moved, proving to be a door which her slumped form fell into as it opened, causing a squeak of surprise from Clara as she moved out of the way.

Rose came up beside Clara as they both looked down at the collapsed figure in front of them. She appeared to be a woman, with strange markings on her face and her hair split into three odd tail shapes, one behind her head, two draped over the front of her body. The other odd thing about her hair was that it seemed to be a mix of white and light purple, forming a strangely natural looking pattern that indicated it wasn't dyed.

"Quickly," Rose began. "She's obviously hurt. Let's get her to the med bay and get her fixed up," she said as she leaned down to pick up the injured woman.

"NO! Wait!" Clara shouted causing Rose to stop just before she reached the woman. "She might have a back or neck injury too, and we don't have time to make a stretcher. Levitate her, focus on keeping her in the exact position she's in to not make any injuries worse."

"Good idea," Rose said as she stood back up and reached her hand out to gently levitate the woman. With intense concentration, she was able to lift her such that it was like she was on an invisible flat surface, and they began the slow trek to the med bay.

As soon as they made it there, Clara sealed the room as a golden cloud of nanogenes surrounded the levitating figure, before pulling up a holographic display and running medical diagnostics, and then letting out a breath of relief.

"It doesn't look like she has any spinal injuries," Clara said to Rose. "It should be safe to set her down and let the medical bed and nanogenes do their work."

Rose did just that, and let out a sigh of relief when she finally released her hold on the woman. "Does it say what's wrong with her?"

"Looks like she's been through the ringer," Clara said. "Her left arm is completely broken in two places, she has multiple broken ribs, both legs are fractured in multiple places, it's a good thing you levitated her in here," Clara stated. "Her right lung was in danger of collapsing as well. Whatever happened to her, she took a beating, and that's not counting all the bruises. If she even survived without us, her entire body would be black and blue soon."

"Better set the medical bed to keep her sedated while she's worked on," Rose spoke up. "That's got to be very painful and it's likely going to take a while to repair all that damage."

"Good idea," Clara said. "She's going to need to rest for the better part of a day after she's all fixed up."

 **.oOo.**

Ahsoka slowly woke and let out a quiet groan. _I'm so stiff and sore, what happened?_ In a flash, her memories flooded to the front of her mind and she jolted upright, her eyes wide in shock that she was still alive. Looking around wildly for a moment, she used her training to calm herself and take in her surroundings.

 _This looks like some kind of medical facility, but I was fighting against Vader. He wouldn't be this kind_. Closing her eyes, Ahsoka reached out to the Force, probing for life signs, only to recoil in shock. _What IS that?! I've never felt a force signature like it!_

Getting to her feet and stepping away from the bed, Ahsoka went through a series of stretches to work out the kinks in her muscles. _Huh, I guess it was mostly sedentary weakness that made me feel so sore. How long have I been out?_

Behind her, the door slid open with a hiss of gasses that sounded suspiciously like Vader's breathing suit. In alarm, Ahsoka grabbed her lightsabers from her belt and ignited them as she spun around into a defensive crouch, not even giving a thought as to why he would allow her to keep them on her.

"Whoa!" she heard before suddenly her lightsabers were pulled out of her grasp into the open hands of two girls standing in the doorway. Ahsoka was so surprised at being disarmed so easily, that she just stood there in shock as one of the girls ran a strangely humming device over the lightsaber before nodding and deactivating it, followed by the other girl doing the same.

"Just try to relax," a girl with light hair spoke up. "We'll give these back to you once we know you're not going to try killing us with them."

Ahsoka didn't feel any threat from them, but also didn't like being without her weapons, so she reached out and pulled them back to her, causing the girls to look at her in surprise as she clipped them to her belt. "I have no ill will towards you, but I don't like being without these."

"Fair enough," said the girl with dark hair. "As long as you don't use them on us, you're welcome to keep them. My name is Clara, this is my wife, Rose," she said gesturing to the girl with lighter hair.

"Wife?" Ahsoka asked, mildly surprised.

"Yep," Rose replied with a loving smile at Clara before turning back. "That's not going to be a problem for you, is it?"

"No!" she replied hastily, realizing these must be the people that treated her injuries, and seemed to be Jedi at that. "It's just not common, I was surprised is all. My name's Ahsoka. Am I correct in assuming you are responsible for treating my injuries?"

When the girls simply nodded, she spoke up again. "Thank you. I owe you my life."

"You're welcome," Rose said with a smile.

"What happened to you?" Clara asked with a note of concern in her voice. "Your injuries were pretty severe."

"A Sith Lord," Ahsoka replied bitterly.

Rose and Clara looked at each other in confusion before Rose looked back to the woman, asking in a kind voice, "What's a Sith Lord?"

Ahsoka looked surprised by the question. _Every Jedi knows of the Sith, even most other Force sensitives and even a lot of non Force users know of the Sith_. "You're not Jedi, are you?"

"Sorry," Clara spoke softly. "We've never heard of Jedi or Sith Lords."

Ahsoka was even more shocked at this. "Never? Not even a whisper, a mention, how is it you come to wield the Force and never hear of Jedi or Sith?"

"We're… not from around here," Rose said diplomatically.

"But…" Ahsoka began, with a very confused look on her face, "every known system in the galaxy has at least heard of the Jedi since they have been hunted to extinction."

"Extinction?!" Rose blurted out in shock.

"Well, nearly," she replied. "I know of two, three if you count the one in self-imposed exile, four if you count myself, but I left the order while I was still a Padawan."

"Order?" Clara asked. "So, Jedi are a group, not a species?"

Ahsoka's eyes went wide at that. "You… you really don't know, do you?"

"No," Clara said as she shook her head.

"How about we get some lunch and we can have a discussion and get to know each other," Rose suggested.

 **.oOo.**

Several hours later, now well into dinner, Rose and Clara were still learning a lot from their conversation with Ahsoka. "This Empire sounds absolutely awful," Clara stated simply.

"But, this concept of the Force, living and cosmic, sounds absolutely fascinating," Rose said with an encouraging smile.

Ahsoka nodded to both statements as she chewed her food and considered the past few hours. Taking a sip of her tea, which she absolutely loved, she put it down to finally ask her own questions. "So, where is it that you come from that you've no knowledge of any of this?"

"We're… explorers, of a sort," Rose says hesitantly but with a smile.

"Everything you've told us," Clara begins, "is a lot for us to take in. I'm not sure you'd believe us if we told you where we're from."

"Don't be too sure of that," Ahsoka replies with a smile of her own. "I have a pretty open mind. Anything is possible with the Force as my ally."

Rose and Clara looked at each other, each with a raised eyebrow, before turning back to their guest. "Would you believe me if I told you that we come from a different universe entirely?" Clara asked softly.

Ahsoka's eyes went wide before thinking there must be a mistranslation somewhere. "Do you mean another galaxy? It's incredibly rare, but not entirely unheard of for us to receive a visitor from another galaxy."

"No," Rose corrected her. "Just like each galaxy is made up of billions of star systems, and the universe is made up of billions of galaxies, the multiverse is made up of countless universes."

Ahsoka stared blankly at her hosts for a moment before breaking out into chuckles at the idea of coming from another universe. She quieted when she noticed neither of them was laughing with her. "Are… are you serious?"

"And I thought the time travel part was the hardest part for people to accept," Rose said with a smirk to Clara.

"Now I know you're having me on," Ahsoka scoffed. "Even with the Force, time travel is impossible outside of visions."

The idea of visions caused the girls to perk up a bit before coming to a decision together. "How about we show you a point in your past?" Clara asked.

"Keep in mind that if we do this," Rose began, "you will have to do exactly as we say and not interfere or even be seen. A paradox like that could destroy the entire galaxy, possibly the universe, trust me, it almost happened because of me once."

Ahsoka was shocked speechless as she numbly followed them to the console room. The idea that she was about to time travel, while she still considered it impossible, was something that she had to see for herself. Being so out of her element, however, made her feel like a Padawan again. If she was going to make it through this adventure, she realized she would have to look to Rose and Clara as her Masters.

"It looks like the TARDIS has been able to put together a map of the galaxy and some information from some data streams," Rose said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "If you can give us date, time, and spatial coordinates to a particular moment in your past, we can take you there to relive it, so to speak."

"I have an idea in mind," Ahsoka admitted reluctantly, "but I know for a fact that there was no ship near us at the time. Wouldn't showing up like that cause one of those paradoxes you're worried about?"

"That won't be a problem," Clara tried to reassure her. "But just for your peace of mind, let's step outside for a moment so you can take a look for yourself."

Clara led Ahsoka over to the doors and opened them, revealing the rather large and somewhat spacious stairs that she had fallen down in the first place. When Ahsoka looked back, her jaw fell open in shock. She could see the open doorways of a black box with purple trim and a softly pulsing purple light on the top of it. Slowly, she walked around the box, causing Clara to smile widely as she waited. When their guest made her way back to the doors, still with a look of shock on her face, Clara gently led her back inside, closing the doors behind her.

"But… but it's…" Ahsoka stuttered, unable to put her thoughts into words just yet.

"Go on," Rose said encouragingly. "You can say it, everyone does."

"It… it's… it's smaller on the outside!" Ahsoka exclaimed, still in shock.

Rose frowned playfully while Clara nearly cackled in glee. "That's exactly what I said my first time," Clara told her.

"I suppose it makes sense in her case," Rose said, her frown turning into a smirk. "She did start the process backward to begin with."

"What?" Ahsoka asked in confusion.

"Most people say it's bigger on the inside," Rose laughed out.

"But most people say that after walking into it the first time," Clara said, still chuckling softly. "To be fair, you did wake up inside and then go out."

"There was definitely no black and purple box near where I'm thinking of," Ahsoka said as she finally came back to her senses.

"That won't be a problem," Rose assured her. "We can cloak and make her silent."

"Her?" Ahsoka asked with a bit of confusion.

"Yeah," Rose said with a big smile. "She's alive," she said as she patted the central rotor affectionately causing the lights to flicker in brightness and the background hum to change softly, which in turn made Ahsoka's eyes go wide again.

"So, SHE'S the massive life sign I detected when I woke up!"

"Huh?" Clara asked in confusion.

"When I first woke up in your med bay," Ahsoka explained, "I sent a probe out into the Force looking for life signs to get an idea of where I was but was shocked at the enormously overpowering feelings I got back."

"That's incredibly perceptive of you," Clara said with a note of awe in her voice.

"Thank you," Ahsoka said with a respectful bow of her head.

"Well then," Rose spoke up. "Come over here and place your hands into this gel, it will link your mind with the ship's navigation system and take us to the point you have in mind."

Clara moved over to some other controls, making some adjustments. "Cloak is engaged and we are set for silent running to the outside world."

Ahsoka did as instructed, placed her hands into what she was told to, and thought of her first time meeting her former master. She watched in awe as the central rotor began moving up and down with a wheezing and groaning sound while the clouds of energy within it stirred. When the central rotor stopped with a thud, Rose gently pulled Ahsoka free from the telepathic interface and walked her to Clara by the door.

"Remember," Clara spoke softly. "You need to do what we tell you. You need to stay inside the ship. If you step outside of those doors, you will cross the cloaking field and possibly cause a catastrophic paradox."

"I understand, Master," Ahsoka replied reverently, slipping into old habits.

"We are nobody's master, Ahsoka," Rose said with a shake of her hear.

"Sorry," she replied quietly. "Old habits. If this is true, when we open the door, it will be the day I met my Master, and he accepted me as his apprentice."

Clara slowly opened the door, causing Ahsoka's jaw to drop again. They looked out to see a relatively young-looking man sit down next to a younger looking Ahsoka who was sitting on what looked like a stone slab, looking rather dejected.

"You're reckless, little one," he spoke to her. "You never would have made it as Obi-Wan's Padawan," he told her, causing her to close her eyes and slump her shoulders in defeat while letting out a soft sigh. "But you might make it as mine," he told her with a soft smile as she turned to him with bright eyes and a hopeful expression on her face. "Come on," he said to her as he got to his feet and started walking towards a ship that was about to land.

"He seems nice," Rose said softly with a fond smile on her face.

"He was," Ahsoka responded with an equally soft smile. "He was the most powerful and yet possibly most complicated Jedi ever."

As they watched Master and Padawan both board the ship and take off, Clara gently closed the doors and walked back to the controls, taking them into the vortex. Once they were safely in the vortex, they led Ahsoka deeper into the TARDIS and to a guest room so that she could get some rest.

When Rose and Clara got back to the console room, they began looking at the information they had collected from their sonics earlier in the day, after they had scanned Ahsoka's lightsabers.

"So, what do you think?" Clara asked.

"I think we could improve the tech," Rose said with a little surprise. "Scale it down, maybe even fit it into the bottom of the sonic."

"We'd probably need to take out the rechargeable power module and replace it with a scaled down void power module though," Clara pointed out.

"That would honestly be an improvement by itself," Rose claimed. "If I'm right, a VPM that size should be able to output as much energy in one second as the rechargeable module can hold in a single full charge, probably five to ten times as much honestly."

"Let's try this then," Clara said as she walked towards the stairs that go to the workshop area just below the main console.

 **.oOo.**

Ahsoka woke around what she presumed to be mid-morning given how well she felt. That was still a surprise to her. It had only been two days since she had fought Vader and apparently lost, yet she felt great, better than she had in a long time. After a quick shower, and something else that she discovered was a sonic cleaner for clothes, she decided to try to find her hosts and see about breakfast before asking to be returned to her friends.

Stepping out into the hall, hoping to find the smells of breakfast, she instead heard the faint sound of what sounded like a lightsaber battle going on down the hall causing her heart to leap into her throat! _There's no way Vader could have found us. And even if he had, it shouldn't sound like a BATTLE unless… Kanan or Ezra found us also!_

Grabbing her lightsabers from her belt, Ahsoka sprinted down the hallway towards the console room, only to stop halfway there when she realized the sound was actually coming from down a hallway to her right. Sprinting down that hall, she found herself approaching an open door that seemed to lead to a garden area.

Just as she crossed the threshold, she somersaulted into the air, igniting her blades as she peaked and came to stop directly beside Rose and Clara who immediately stopped and looked at her in shock before deactivating their blades.

"Sorry," Rose said sheepishly. "We didn't mean to startle you."

"I hope we didn't wake you," Clara added.

Ahsoka stared at them both in shock before she finally deactivated her own blades and placed them back on her belt. "Where the hell did you get lightsabers?!"

Rose and Clara each took a cautious step backward, before she lit into them again. "Do you have any idea how dangerous those are?! You could easily kill yourself or your partner with an accidental flick of the wrist!?"

"We know that," Rose said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture.

"That's why we have them set only to stun," Clara added, hoping to calm her.

"Stun?" Ahsoka asked incredulously. "What do you mean you have them set on stun?"

"We made these last night, based on the scans we took of yours," Rose said as she held her palm out with her sonic in it, with the bottom pointed away from them all. "We noticed that yours had more than one power setting and determined the lower setting was just for practice or stunning or something. We made ours with the default setting being stun since we don't like to kill if we can avoid it."

"You… you made those… _last night_?!" she asked in shock. "Based only on a quick scan of mine?"

"Yeah," Clara said. "It was actually pretty easy."

"The crystals needed for them were the hardest part," Rose pointed out. "We were just going to synthesize them, but the TARDIS already had some that worked perfectly for them."

Ahsoka blinked owlishly at them in shock. "Your TARDIS… just happened to have a couple kyber crystals laying around?"

"Well, not laying around," Clara corrected. "The TARDIS led us to a previously unknown area near her engines. It was actually quite beautiful, a cave with a crystal-clear pool of water and glowing crystals growing out of the rock faces."

"After we took a break to have a nice, relaxing swim," Rose explained, "we noticed two crystals that weren't just glowing, but were pulsing. We reached out to touch them, and they simply floated into our hands."

Ahsoka stared at them for a long moment, before shaking the shock from her face. "Can you demonstrate your _default_ setting on that stone bench over there?" she asked, pointing to the bench by the stream which Rose had copied from the Doctor's TARDIS.

Clara walked over to the bench, ignited the blade from the bottom of her sonic, then quickly sliced down, causing the blade to stop on the top of the bench. When she deactivated it, there wasn't even a scorch mark on the bench.

Rose ignited her own and quickly tapped Clara on the butt with it before deactivating it again, causing Clara to yelp and jump in surprise. "See, harmless."

"Well, it still stings!" Clara griped good-naturedly.

"Of course, it does," Rose said to her. "We're not going to learn if there isn't some type of consequence for making a mistake."

When they turned back to Ahsoka, they saw here staring at them in complete shock with her jaw hanging loosely. "Are you okay?" Clara asked.

Ahsoka shook her head to clear the cobwebs. "That shouldn't be possible. The art of lightsaber creation is a long process."

"We're quick learners," Rose quipped with a grin.

Clara lightly smacked Rose's arm before turning back to Ahsoka. "Will you train us?"

 **.oOo.**


	14. Chapter 14: Of Ancients and Jedi

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** This will obviously be AU Rebels. For those of you that haven't seen Rebels, it is available to watch online on some Disney website. I found it via google. I recommend watching it as it's a great addition to the Star Wars lore and as it's made by Disney, it's officially canon and has some really interesting additions to the canon. Also, Ezra and Sabine are just too cute. For those that are interested, when I get around to posting chapter 15, you should know it's also the first chapter of a Rebels centric spinoff I'm doing from this story. Also, for anyone that thinks a year is simply unreal for Jedi training, you're probably right. But keep in mind that there is no more Jedi Order, so this training is much less organized, far less dogmatic, and far more concentrated since it's mostly been done on the TARDIS in the vortex. Lastly, for anyone that HAS seen Rebels, Bendu was voiced by Tom Baker, who played the 4th Doctor. As promised, here's chapter 14.

 ** _Chapter 14: Of Ancients and Jedi._**

Nearly a year later found Rose, Clara, and Ahsoka in a wide-open gym area of the Wolf Den, swinging away with their lightsabers at each other looking almost like a dance. It had been a long year of learning, studying, hacking, infiltrating, and mostly training.

Ahsoka deactivated her blades and took a large gulp of water from her bottle before speaking up. "You two are absolutely amazing," she said after taking a deep breath. "You're very good with all the Forms, but experts with Form II, almost as good with that Form as Ezra is, and he's approaching Artist level like Count Dooku."

"Dooku was a Sith though, wasn't he?" Clara asked in confusion.

"He was a Jedi before that," Ahsoka told her. "But even so, just because someone is an enemy doesn't mean you can't appreciate, or even learn from, their style."

"Fair enough," Rose replied. "Thank you so much for everything you've taught us, but I feel like we still have a lot to learn."

Ahsoka laughed at that. "We are always learning, we never stop."

"Does that mean we passed?" Clara asked with a giddy note to her voice.

"Yes. You have learned all that I am able to teach you," she replied with a smile.

"Great," Rose said as she reattached her sonic to her wrist strap while activating the mental interface of her necklace to change from her training clothes into a casual outfit while the others did the same.

"Let's get freshened up and then have some lunch while we decide what to do next," Clara suggested.

 **.oOo.**

"Now, Ahsoka," Rose began as they all made their way towards the console room after lunch. "Remember, we might not be able to get you back to your friends at the exact moment you left them. It's possible some time will have to pass from that point, depending on different paradox possibilities."

"I understand," she replied softly. "I just hope I'm not too late to help."

"I'm sure that won't be the case," Clara encouraged. "The Doctor's TARDIS tended to get him where he needed to be, and this one has a very similar personality."

"I just need to connect with the telepathic interface again, right?" Ahsoka asked, feeling again like a Padawan rather than a Master.

"Yep," Rose replied, popping the p.

When she slipped her hands into the soft gel of the interface, Clara gave her one more instruction. "This time, don't think of any specific event. Think only of reuniting and helping your friends."

Taking a deep breath, Ahsoka did just that, closing her eyes and thinking about her friends that she wants so desperately to get back to. A moment later, there was a beep from the console, so Rose pulled the main levers, and the TARDIS disappeared from the vortex.

 **.oOo.**

"Bridger and his friends restored my daughter to me," Mrs. Wren spoke to the friends and fellow clan members assembled in their mountain home. "That is a debt worth repaying. We cannot leave ourselves undefended, but, you can take a few ships and any warriors who are willing," she said, leaving no room for argument.

Sabine was about the thank her mother, but was interrupted by a growing wheezing and groaning sound as her hair started fluttering around her face in a sudden breeze. When the shape of a black and purple box started to solidify, all those assembled drew their weapons, pointing them at what appeared to be doors.

"That won't be necessary," a familiar voice spoke as the doors opened.

"Ahsoka!" Ezra and Sabine exclaimed in shock at the same time. There in the door of the black box that mysteriously appeared to them was a face they never thought they'd see again.

"It's good to see you again, my friends."

"How are you here?" Ezra asked with a strained voice. "I thought we lost you."

"I'll explain on the way," Ahsoka said as Sabine gave her a hug. "Right now, we have to get back to Atollon."

"My ship is right outside," he told her.

"Leave it," she replied. "Our way is faster."

Sabine looked back to her mother with worry, who simply replied. "Go, Sabine. Be safe."

As Chopper, Ezra, and Sabine filed into the TARDIS, Ahsoka bowed her head in respect to Mrs. Wren. "Thank you, we will see you again soon." Once she stepped back inside, she closed the doors and the black box disappeared from the Wren mountain home as if it were never there.

As she stepped by Ezra and Sabine, Ahsoka noticed their jaws hanging slack in shock before she let out a quiet chuckle, which in turn caused Rose and Clara to chuckle along with her, which finally snapped the two younger guests out of their shock.

"How is this possible?" Sabine asked in obvious awe.

"And who are your friends?" Ezra asked Ahsoka with some skepticism. After his brushes with Maul and the dark side, he's not willing to blindly trust anyone.

"This is Rose and Clara, they saved me after the explosion at the temple before Vader could finish me off."

"Are they Jedi?" Ezra asked in shock.

"Not exactly," she smirked at him. "But remember, I'm not exactly a Jedi either."

"So, what's the plan?" he asked, deciding there were more important things to deal with right this moment.

"Chopper," Sabine called out. "Bring up the Imperial blockade."

Chopper turned and displayed a hologram of the fleet around the planet, showing roughly a dozen Star Destroyers including the Interdictor Cruiser. "The biggest problem is that Interdictor," Sabine stated.

"What's so special about that ship?" Rose asked.

"It creates some type of gravity well that knocks ships out of hyperspace," Ezra replied.

"And your hyperdrives can't compensate?" Clara asked in confusion.

Everyone looked a little wearily at Clara for that comment before Sabine spoke up. "No ship is able to compensate for that."

"We'll worry about that another time," Rose said. "For now, we can take out that Interdictor before we land and evacuate your base."

"You can do that?" Sabine asked in surprise.

"With one shot," Rose smirked.

"I know you must have a lot of questions," Ahsoka said to Sabine and Ezra, "but now is not the time."

"Alright, when do we leave?" Sabine asked.

Clara walked over and threw open the door, taking a look around. "Is that the Interdictor you were telling us about?"

 **.oOo.**

"Kanan, you made it!" Hera exclaimed. "What happened with your friend?"

"Oh, don't worry," Kanan replied sarcastically. "I think he's coming."

Before she could replay, a hologram of Ezra appeared on the tactical table. "Ezra!" Hera exclaimed.

"Hera," he replied quickly. "We've got help. We're taking out the Interdictor."

"Okay," Kanan said. "This might be our only chance. Let's move!" As everyone starts running towards the ships, he speaks up again. "Looks like the family's back together again."

"Let's try and keep it that way," Hera replies, obviously stressed.

Not a moment later, the shield generator exploded, leaving the entire base vulnerable. Zeb looked ready to comment when a bright light shined briefly in the sky from orbit, just barely visible above and beyond the approaching storm.

As they ran towards the _Ghost_ , walkers began firing on the evacuating ships. Before they can do much damage, however, a golden light streaked away from the _Ghost_ and zig-zagged through all the walkers, bringing them down before they can destroy any of the ships and causing a cloud of dust and debris to fill the area before they are surrounded.

The strangest thing that Kanan noticed, however, is that the storm seemed to halt in its track, still rumbling but not approaching any closer, as if waiting for something, yet still occasionally zapping enemy fighters out of the sky.

"And now, Captain Syndulla, I will accept your formal surrender," Thrawn stated in that disturbingly quiet voice of his. "Or… you will watch your friends perish, one by one, beginning with the Jedi."

Most of the team readied their blasters and Kanan ignited his lightsaber, everyone ready for one last stand as the enemy surrounded them. Their only hope now is to hold Thrawn long enough for the rest of the base to escape.

"I require an answer, Captain."

"Her answer is no," Ezra spoke up from behind Thrawn, igniting his lightsaber as he did so and readied himself in a defensive stance while the dust cloud began to settle a bit.

"So… predictable," Thrawn said condescendingly over his shoulder.

"Is that so," spoke another familiar voice from within the slowly settling dust. Ahsoka stepped into view causing everyone to stare at her in shock. "Did you also predict me?" she asked as she ignited both her white lightsabers.

"I can guarantee he didn't predict us," Rose said as she and Clara stepped out from behind Ezra and Ahsoka respectively, each igniting their own purple blades.

"What?!" Thrawn screamed in shock, for once in his life. There were only supposed to be two Jedi, not five! "This is not possible! There are only two Jedi left in the entire galaxy!"

"That's assuming we're Jedi, or even from this galaxy," Clara stated as she walked up to Thrawn and placed the point of her lightsaber so very close to his neck. "Drop your weapons and kick them away, or blueberry here suddenly becomes a head shorter."

"Everyone, get back to the _Ghost_ ," Ezra stated calmly. "The Interdictor has been destroyed and the sensors of the rest of their fleet has been fried. We're clear to launch."

"LEAVE THIS PLACE," a loud, booming voice called from the center of the storm that was no longer approaching. It caused Rose and Clara to briefly glance at each other in surprise.

"You heard him," Kanan said to the crew as they all walked by the standoff and ran for the ship, not even bothering to ask about the black box in the cargo hold as Hera rushes to the cockpit where Sabine was already getting the ship started.

As the engines roared to life, Rose and Clara levitated the dropped weapons up into the air and pushed them far away, as the rest of them slowly back up to the ship, only deactivating their blades when they are on the ramp and it's beginning to close.

While Ahsoka joined the rest of the crew, Ezra followed Rose and Clara into their ship with Sabine following after him to see if he's okay.

"That beaming thing you used," Ezra began softly, "to get the drone you mentioned onto the Interdictor… can we use that to get something off one of the other ships too?"

"Of course," Clara responded with a kind smile. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well," he started, nervously rubbing his neck. "The warning we got about the attack was cut off. I think our spy got caught and is likely on Thrawn's ship."

"Stick your hands in here," Clara said, gesturing to the telepathic interface. "Focus on the person you want to beam out of there and the transporter will lock onto them."

A moment later, there were two flashes of light, one depositing Kallus and the other revealed Hera's Kalikori, which caused Sabine to shriek in surprise.

"Ezra! How did you get that?!" Sabine asked.

"I saw it in Thrawn's office when I tried to extract Kallus the first time," Ezra replied.

"And I thank you for getting me out of there this time," Kallus said sincerely.

"You're welcome," Ezra said to Kallus with a smile, before grabbing the Kalikori and handing it to Sabine. "Let's go give this to Hera."

They all filed out of the TARDIS and Ezra led them to the cockpit, arriving just in time to see them jump to hyperspace. "I'm glad we're out of there," Hera said with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah," Kanan said with a sigh of his own. "I'm glad Ezra showed up when he did. I don't know if we would have survived otherwise."

"It wasn't just me," Ezra said sheepishly, causing both Hera and Kanan to whip around and stare at him. Rather than say anything else, he just stepped aside to reveal Sabine, still holding Hera's Kalikori with a surprised expression on her face.

"How did you…" Hera started to say as Sabine handed it to her.

"Ezra," Sabine replied. "He pulled it off Thrawn's ship at the same time he got Kallus."

"I would love to know how he managed that," Kallus said. "I had just knocked out two stormtroopers in a turbo lift that were ordered to throw me out an airlock when I was suddenly surrounded by light and then in your cargo bay."

"Special technology from our ship," Rose spoke up from the doorway.

"I don't know who you are," Kanan said as she stood up and faced her direction, "but thank you for coming with Ezra to rescue us."

"Oh, goodness," Clara spoke up in surprise. "What happened to your eyes? Were you injured in the attack?"

"That injury occurred the same day you found me," Ahsoka said to Clara.

"We better not waste another minute then," Rose spoke up before turning back towards the door. "Ahsoka, bring him to the TARDIS med bay and we'll get him fixed right up."

 **.oOo.**

As it turned out, they didn't get him fixed right up, not right away at least. The group couldn't make it past the console room before a barrage of questions started up. It took a couple hours to give a brief history of Rose and Clara and how they ended up meeting Ahsoka, and then nearly another hour describing what they learned from her as well as their getting trained by her. When they did reach the med bay, Kanan was promptly knocked out with a quick injection.

"Why did you do that?" Hera asked in alarm.

"Because of the nature of his injuries," Rose told them calmly. "Because it involves his eyes and nerve damage, the treatment would be quite painful."

"How can you fix his sight though?" Hera asked, hoping that her love isn't about to be let down where their own doctors failed.

"Ahsoka," Clara called to her at the other end of the med bay. "Can you seal the door please?"

With a nod, she did just that and as the door sealed, a yellow and gold cloud of nanogenes descended upon everyone in the room. Everyone had some minor issues healed, cuts and scrapes and so on, but when that was done, the entire cloud centered around Kanan's face and eyes. It took several minutes, but finally, the nanogenes disappeared, leaving his face looking peaceful.

"What do we do now?" Hera asked anxiously.

"We just need to wait," Rose said with an assuring smile. "When the nanogenes finished working on his injuries, they removed the rest of the sedative from his system as well. Now he just has to wake up in his own time."

A groan from the bed spoke to the truth of that statement as Kanan slowly regained consciousness. "Uh. Why do my eyes hurt?"

"Because," Rose began soothingly, "they haven't been used in about a year. Now there is suddenly nerve conduction back and forth between your eyes and brain again. It should pass in an hour or so."

"Kanan?" Hera said with a hint of fear in her voice as she took his hand in hers. "I'm right here, love."

Slowly he turned his head towards her and gently opened his eyes. At first, he seemed to be in shock, but then his face erupted into a smile. "I never thought I'd see your beautiful face again."

Hera cried out as she latched onto him and pulled him into a gentle hug. "I was so worried when they suddenly knocked you out."

"Yeah, why was that?" he asked in confusion.

"Simply put," Rose began with a smile, "the pain of fixing your eyes would make the pain of the initial injury feel like a pinch. I was fairly sure you would want to be spared that."

"Thank you," Kanan said sincerely. "For everything."

"You're welcome," Clara spoke up for them both. "Now, let's get the crew back to your ship so you can make the last hyperspace jump to your new base. Then, we can get to the surprises for the _Ghost_ and crew."

 **.oOo.**

"Hey," Sabine said softly as she walked into Ezra's room on the _Ghost_ , giving him a gentle hug from behind. "In all the excitement, I never got to say thank you."

"Thank you?" Ezra asked with obvious confusion.

"For thinking of me when you needed help," she told him simply. "It means a lot to me."

"Well, you were always there for me since I first met you guys," he replied a little sheepishly. "Even when you wanted to kick my ass," he added with a chuckle.

"I missed you, Ezra," she said with a sigh, laying her head on his shoulder as she was still hugging him from behind.

"I missed you too, Sabine. It's just not the same without you around," he told her, then let out a long drawn out sigh. "I just wish I knew what I'm supposed to do."

"How do you mean?" she asked him.

"All of it," he told her with a note of frustration in his voice. "I want to keep helping the Rebellion fight the Empire but I also want to help your family and Mandalore to stop the Empire from regaining a foothold there too."

"What if you could do both?" they heard a soft voice speak up behind them, causing them to jump apart and whip around, blushing slightly, only to see Clara standing there in the open doorway to the room with a knowing smile on her face.

"How?" Ezra asked after he pulled himself together.

"We're trying to offer what little assistance we can," Clara said, a note of frustration in her own voice now. "But your friend, Leia, keeps shutting us down."

"That's a surprise," Sabine said. "I can't imagine her turning away help, especially if Ezra's involved," she added that last bit with a very bitter tone, causing Ezra to look sideways at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, if she thinks I'm _soooo_ important to the Rebellion," he said with a touch of sarcasm, "then, let's see if I can get her to let you help."

The three of them left the ship and walked in silence to the control center of the base they had been at for a few days now. When they arrived, they were all surprised to see a heated argument between Rose and Leia taking place.

"It's simply not a good time," Leia insisted. "We need them here."

"I know _exactly_ why you don't want this to go forward," Rose told her coldly. "And I'm telling you that will get you nowhere. You need to give that up!"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Leia said hotly with a stern look.

Ezra stepped into the room behind them and finally decided to put an end to her little crush once and for all. "I do," he said firmly.

"Ezra!" Leia said in shock as she spun around to face him. "When did you get here?"

"A moment ago," he told her with a steely look. "I know exactly why I'm supposedly so important to the Rebellion. I know all about the experiment," he said, referring to him being an experiment testing the Rebellion's ability to foster Jedi. "And do you know what? I'm okay with that. It needs to happen, but not at the cost of help that could save lives."

"There is more to it than that, Ezra," Leia pleaded with him.

"And I already told you that you will still be self-sufficient," Rose spoke up again, this time with a calmer tone in her voice. "Even slightly more-so. We can't fight this war for you, but we can give you some small advantages."

Leia turned to Ezra with an uncertain look in her eyes, begging him with a look to side with her, and he realized with that look that her feelings were more than a simple crush, but he knew he would never return them, so he spoke softer this time.

"Some things just can't happen," he told her softly while looking her in the eyes, seeing that she finally understood what he said, and he felt bad about the sudden defeated look in her eyes. "Other things need to happen," he spoke again, this time in a stronger voice. "We need all the help we can get. If that means I have to leave the Rebellion to get that help," he stated in a manner that caused those in the room to gasp in surprise, "then, I will."

"No," Leia spoke quietly. "That won't be necessary. The _Ghost_ and crew are clear to depart whenever ready. Just… please…" she said with a slightly fearful note. "Stay safe."

"That's the point of this," Clara finally spoke up in a soft tone. "We want to keep them and as many people as possible safe."

With that, Ezra, Sabine, Rose, and Clara left the control center and headed back to the _Ghost_ where the rest of the crew was keeping busy, and where the TARDIS was still parked in the cargo hold. Sabine split off to gather everyone else and they all met up in the galley.

"What's the word?" Hera asked.

"We're cleared to leave," Rose said. "You should all get some rest and we can leave first thing in the morning."

"Can you give us a little more detail now about what this trip is about?" Kanan asked.

"Maybe something a little more detailed than just _upgrades_ ," Zeb put in.

"Well," Clara began, "it really is as simple as that. We're going to upgrade your hull plating, weapons, shields, engines, power core, computer core, even Chopper if he wants some upgrades."

"Whomp beep!" came from Chopper, sounding excited, causing everyone to laugh before turning in for the night.

 **.oOo.**

"So, wait, that's it?" Sabine asked in shock. "That's all it takes to cross between universes?"

"This is a very special TARDIS," Rose said with a smile and a pat on the console.

Clara opened the doors and led them out into the _Ghost_ , opening the ramp and leading them out into the hanger, where the entire crew gawked as the sheer size of the hanger in disbelief. It must have room for a few hundred ships the size of this _Ghost_!

"How big is this is this place?" Ezra asked after a moment of shock.

"Not very big really," Clara said with a smirk. "This is just a small craft hanger."

"JUST!?" Sabine practically shrieked.

"Small craft?" Hera asked in disbelief.

"Perhaps a tour is in order," Rose suggested, before tapping some controls on her wrist computer and beaming them all away to the Capital Ship hanger. Nobody could speak for several minutes as they took in the sheer size of the hanger they were in. There seemed to be no end to it, and what they could see were half a dozen ships double the size of an Imperial Star Destroyer.

"How in the Force…" Kanan started to say but trailed off.

"Is there anything you can't do?" Ahsoka asked in awe as she was slowly starting to grasp the might of her new friends.

"We're not actually sure yet," Clara answered honestly. "There are some things that have to do with disrupting the natural flow of time that are off limits, but other than that, who knows?"

"I think one of the more impressive things I've seen done was the Doctor towing our home planet through hyperspace," Rose said with a grin on her face.

"Come on," Clara said to the stunned group. "Let's go get the TARDIS out of your cargo hold so we can get the upgrades started while we get some breakfast."

 **.oOo.**

Later that day, just as lunch was wrapping up, Rose spoke to everyone as they were taking their plates to the sink. "Clara, how about you take everyone back to the hanger and explain the upgrades that are being done? I would like to talk with Ezra and Sabine for a bit."

"That sounds good," Clara responded as she led the others back towards the hanger while Rose led the youngest members of the crew down a different hallway.

"Is something wrong?" Sabine asked from her place walking next to Ezra when they were out of earshot.

"Not at all," Rose replied with her usual gentle smile. "We just have an additional offer for you both that we can't offer to the rest of your friends."

"Why is that?" Ezra asked a bit uneasily.

"It's nothing bad I assure you," Rose said. "It's a medical procedure is all. It simply can't be used on some species or any humans over a certain age. Am I correct in believing that you are both a little under twenty years old?"

"Just over nineteen," Sabine supplied curiously. "And Ezra's just a few months younger than I am."

"Ezra," Rose began as they stepped into a medical room and sat down. "Did Kanan or Ahsoka explain to you how you are able to use the Force?"

"Symbiotic life forms that live in my cells," Ezra stated, almost robotically. "They explained it to me, but I can't say I really understand it."

"That's fine," Rose reassured him. "Just that you know is enough for what I need to explain. While all life in your galaxy seems to have at least some of these within their cells, those truly able to use the Force, like the Jedi, have a much greater concentration. Does that make some sense to you?"

"Sort of like the power to a shield?" Ezra asked. "If you have more power to give to a shield, it will be stronger and protect you more?"

"That's a very good way of looking at it for this discussion, very good," Rose beamed.

"So, because I have a lot less of these things in my cells, that's why I'm not a Jedi like Ezra is?" asked Sabine.

"That's right," Rose replied. "Now, I have something to show you. You understand that I have absolutely none in my cells, yes?"

"Because you're not even from our universe, let alone galaxy, right?" Ezra asked.

"That is exactly right. But, watch this," Rose said before she casually waved her hand and set an empty chair floating around the room before setting it down.

Both Ezra and Sabine looked floored by that. "But… how?" Sabine asked.

"It's because my people, the Ancients, were able to access the Force with just the power of their mind," Rose explained to them. This was something they learned during their training with Ahsoka. They realized it was this ability that the TARDIS had enhanced.

"Does that mean that electro-shocks wouldn't stop you from being able to use the Force?" Ezra asked realizing what a big advantage that could be.

Rose beamed happily at him. "That's right. What I can offer you both is you alter your genes to make them similar to mine. It won't change anything about your Force abilities now, just give you an extra way to use them."

"You mean… Sabine could be a Jedi too?" Ezra asked in shock as he looked to see Sabine's jaw hanging open.

"Yes," Rose said. "But that's not the only change. You would both live longer lives, possibly a couple hundred years. You would heal faster, be able to talk to each other mind to mind, mentally communicate with some technology, possibly more."

"Why?" Sabine started. "Why are you offering this to us?"

"There is something special about you both," Rose told them honestly. "Don't ask what, I can't really explain it," she said as she put up a hand to stop that question. "It's not any type of prophecy like what fell on Anakin Skywalker or something like that… it's just… something about the way you two are with each other and those around you."

Sabine and Ezra blushed slightly at each other before he reached his hand over to grasp hers and squeezed softly. "Together?" he asked her gently.

"As always," she replied with a slight smirk, but still not able to hide her blush.

"Wonderful," Rose said with a big smile on her face. "If you could each step up onto one of these platforms over here, we'll get this started right away. It should only take a few minutes, and then another few minutes rest. Then you can start looking at designs for your new ship."

"New ship?!" Sabine asked in shock.

"Oh, did I forget to mention the other offer?" Rose said with a smirk. "You can decide if you want to take that later, it's a completely separate offer."

 **.oOo.**

"I can't believe the ship is nearly done!" Hera said over dinner. "How does it all work though? You said we don't need fuel anymore and emptied the tanks, but I don't get that."

"It's entirely electrical," Clara said in between bites. "We replaced your fuel reactor with a much smaller power cell that draws zero-point energy directly from the void between universes."

"How much power are we talking about?" Zeb asked, curious about how well the weapons will work now.

"How much power does a typical Star Destroyer use in an average day?" Rose asked for a point of reference.

"A lot," Hera said sarcastically.

"Well," Clara spoke again. "Your new power core should be able to output about the same amount of power in just a second."

Everyone stared at her in shock before Kanan finally recovered. "So, when you said the new power core and shields would help…"

"We mean that you could take bombardment from an entire imperial blockade fleet and not even bother interrupting your dinner," Rose said with a smirk.

Zeb let out a low whistle hearing that. "Does that apply to the weapons as well?"

"It does, and we installed two new turrets for you as well, plasma beam cannons," Clara told them as she took another bite. "The reason we emptied your fuel tank is because that's where we installed your nanite swarm."

"What does that do again?" Sabine asked distractedly, still going over ship designs in her own mind and wondering if it will be even half as good as the Ghost's upgrades.

"Think of them like microscopic droids," Rose stated. "If somehow the ship does get damaged or something, the nanites come out through your fuel access port and swarm over the damaged areas to effect repairs quickly."

"We've buried most of the new tech behind your old systems so that if you need to be boarded for any reason, imperials scanning for contraband or such, it just looks like the normal systems, computers, comms, navigation, etc," Clara told them.

"The cloaking device should make that unnecessary though," Rose said. "Even if you get caught in a tractor beam, engaging the cloak should break the lock."

"So," Clara asked now that dinner was wrapping up. "Do you want to head back to Yavin now, or get a good night's rest first?"

"I think we should spend a night on the _Ghost_ first to acclimate to the new changes," Hera said diplomatically.

"Okay then," Rose said with a smirk. "Enjoy the new beds."

"The what?" Kanan asked in surprise as everyone laughed and headed down to the Ghost for the night.

The next morning, Rose and Clara landed the TARDIS in the cargo bay of the Ghost before stepping out to meet with the crew again. "Did you have a good night?" Rose asked.

"Ladies!" Zeb said a little theatrically. "Can you please explain to me why I got assaulted by a golden cloud last night after I tripped and broke my nose on the door?"

"Oh," Clara started. "Sorry, I guess we forgot about that."

"Forgot about what?" Hera said with a smirk, realizing where this was going.

"Well, you don't have a dedicated medical bay," Rose told her. "So, we lined your ventilation system with nanogenes in case of injuries."

"Thank you," Hera said sincerely. "It means a lot to know my crew will be that much safer in the event of an accident or injury on a mission."

"Glad we could help," Clara said with a smile. "So, is everyone ready to…" Clara began but stopped when the sound of her comm beeping interrupted her.

Tapping a button on her wrist, a hologram suddenly appeared showing Sam sitting in the control room of the SGC. "Sam!" Clara said in surprise, followed immediately by Rose's "How are you?"

"Oh! I got it to work, sir!" Same called out to someone behind her before turning back to the display. "It's good to see you, Rose, Clara. I'm afraid this isn't a social call."

"What happened?" Rose asked with concern.

"We have this device we call a quantum mirror," Sam started, trying to cover the fact that she'd already told them about it.

"That was thought to be destroyed before the ancestors left the galaxy," Clara spoke up, playing along. "Over seven million years ago. You found it?! Intact?"

"Yes. We've had it in storage for some time with the intent to study it, but yesterday…"

"What happened, Sam?" Rose asked.

"Two people came through it," Sam told them. "An alternate version of myself and an alternate version of a passed-on colleague."

"Oh, no!" Clara said in shock.

"You better get them back to their own reality," Rose said with a look of horror on her face, "before entropic cascade failure starts to take effect."

"Is that possible?" Sam asked in shock.

"Given that she's on the same planet with you, it will happen in a matter of days," Rose told her in concern.

"There's a problem with that," Sam said. "Their version of the planet was just invaded by the Goa'uld."

"Shit!" Clara exclaimed. "That does complicate matters."

"We'll be there soon," Rose said before turning the comm off.

"What is this cascade failure thing?" Kanan asked in concern.

"Imagine your body melting, slowly, over the course of a day, and you're conscious through it all," Rose told them.

Everyone looked grim at that description until Sabine spoke up. "How can we help?"

"Let's get to the TARDIS and get you and your ship back home first," Clara said.

"But we can help," Ezra said. "And you told them you would be there soon."

"It's a time machine," Rose reminded him gently. "We can get you all home and still get to them five minutes ago."

"Oh, yeah," he said sheepishly.

"We could still help them, couldn't we?" Kanan asked. "I mean, help them retake their planet once you have them back in the right universe?"

"There is only so much we can do without harming timelines," Clara said. "But we'll be able to liberate the planet long enough for them to evacuate."

"But we will take care of that," Rose told them. "For now, let's get you back to help your Rebel Alliance."

 **.oOo.**

"Very few of their forces had actually landed yet," Clara told Hammond and SG-1.

"So, we took out their ships and imprisoned Apophis and his Jaffa," Rose said.

"My counterpart stopped having tremors though, right?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Clara told her. "We were actually scanning her for the entire time. As soon as we were in her reality again, all signs of Entropic Cascade Failure stopped."

"As much as you might not like it," Rose started cautiously. "You really need to destroy that quantum mirror. It's too dangerous to… this…" As Rose trailed off, everyone in the room could see her mind churning at lightning speed, so Clara spoke up to give her more time.

"I can tell you that from a scientific perspective, there is absolutely nothing you can learn from such a device that you could use to protect the planet. It's simply too unique to be of any use in any other type of technology," she told them.

"What are you thinking of, Rose?" Sam asked after a moment.

Rose was brought out of her thoughts by the direct question and a smile slowly forming on her face. "I was thinking that for the safety of your reality, you need to destroy the quantum mirror, but that would also leave the other realities with it open to the danger it poses."

"Is there anything we can do about that, short of the two of you going to each of those realities and destroying each one?" Jack ask curiously.

"Clara," Rose turned to face her. "Do you think you can write a virus based on the all gates dialing protocol?"

"What good would that…" Clara trailed off as the proverbial light-bulb went off in her head. "Oh! Oh, that is good!"

"What a minute," Sam spoke up catching an idea of what they meant. "Are you telling us, that there is a way to dial _all_ of the Star Gates at the same time?"

"There is," Clara replied absentmindedly. "And from our scans of the mirror, it is partly based on the stargate system, in that, all the mirrors in other realities communicate with each other in order to be able to establish a connection to travel through."

"Of the two of us," Rose spoke up, "Clara is better with these sorts of things. If she can write a virus into the communication system of the mirror, something simple, like overload the power system, all of the mirrors in each reality would explode at the same time."

Jack let out a low whistle, but Hammond had another concern.

"How big of an explosion are we talking about?" he asked. "Because it sounds like we're not just talking about this base. I don't want people in the other realities hurt by this," he stated.

Rose smiled at him, grateful that someone of his character was in charge of this facility. "It would be very small, localized to the internal workings of the device itself," she assured him. "It's not like blowing up a stargate, which could possibly destroy a world. It would simply melt all of the internal circuitry and cause the power block to explode. Being at the base of the device, such a small explosion would at most, knock the mirror over. Either way, it's irreparably destroyed."

"Okay then," Hammond said. "Let's get it done."

It actually only took Clara about three hours or so to write the virus and run it through some simulations to ensure it would work. Hammond and SG-1 insisted on being there when they uploaded it so they would know for themselves that it worked.

"I know how safe this should be," Rose told them. "But, just to be extra cautious, I want to do it from here in the hallway and keep the room empty of all personnel."

"I've already ordered the entire floor cleared," Hammond told them. "It's just us right now."

"Daniel," Clara looked at him. "If you could activate it and spin it to a random reality please…"

Danial did just that, and what they saw caused them all to look at the device in shock. There, on the other side of the quantum mirror, were four Daleks inside the SGC! Rose stared in shock, seeing the lights on the Dalek's heads start blinking, indicating they were speaking. She was suddenly grateful the mirror didn't transfer sound.

"What the hell is that?!" Jack asked.

Clara ran her sonic over the controller that Daniel was holding. "I have that particular reality's coordinates saved," she said to Rose.

"That," Rose began, "is a Dalek. They make snakeheads seem affectionate in comparison," she told them in disgust. "Clara, upload the virus."

Clara tapped some controls on her wrist computer, as she did exactly that before the Daleks could think to try touching the mirror. They watched as the image flickered, then went black, followed by a small blast and puff of smoke coming from the base of the mirror. More surprising, though, was a moment later the entire base shook with what felt like a small earthquake.

"Interesting," Sam said quietly.

"What just happened?" Daniel asked.

"I believe that was an earthquake, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

"Actually, I don't think so, Teal'c," Sam said.

"Then what was it, Carter?" Jack asked.

"Remember how she," Sam started, gesturing to Rose, "explained how different universes existed? Sort of like a deck of cards stacked one on top of the next and so on?"

"Vaguely," Jack replied.

"I think the force of the explosion, small as it was, became magnified by the number of realities that it occurred in at the same instant," Sam supplied.

"Multi-dimensional quantum entangled amplification," Rose said as if that explained everything.

"What's that?" Daniel asked.

"No idea," Rose spoke with a smirk. "I just made it up," she said, causing Clara to laugh.

"The different realities are stacked so tightly together," Clara eventually said, "that it makes sense there might be some minor energy crossover at times. Sort of like déjà vu. You think you've experienced something before because multiple versions of you just experienced the same thing."

"Huh," Daniel responded, seemingly mulling that over in his head.

 **.oOo.**


	15. Chapter 15: The Ghost and The Mirage

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** This chapter is also going to be the first chapter of a spinoff story that I'm going to write. Please note, the YT-2600 is not a canon ship as far as I know. I based it on an image concept I found randomly on google images. I would like to give credit to whoever created it, but there was no credit listed on the image that I could see. If you want to see the image, just go to google images and search "YT-2600" and you should find it easily. It's a nice image showing the ship from three different angles. The version in this story is modified, black with silver trim.

 ** _Chapter 15: The Ghost and The Mirage._**

Ezra and Sabine were walking with the rest of the crew back to the _Ghost_ to relax after a long and rather boring meeting about potential ops and possible new bases when both of them were suddenly engulfed in a bright light and disappeared.

The reappeared in the console room of the TARDIS with a smiling Rose and Clara both looking like the cat that ate the canary.

When they finally got their bearings, Ezra spoke first. "Hi."

"Where is everyone else?" Sabine asked in worry for her crewmates.

"We only beamed you two up because we have a special surprise," Rose responded.

"Do you mind if we comm them before we get started at least?" Sabine asked with a glance at Ezra, who seemed to be just as lost as she was. "They must be freaking out right now."

"Of course," Clara said, gesturing to the comm device on their belts that the girls had gifted to all the members of the crew previously.

"Hera, it's Sabine. Can you hear me?"

" _Oh, thank gods you're okay!_ " she heard Hera reply over the comms. " _Where are you? What happened? Is Ezra with you?_ "

"We're both here and fine," she replied with a fond smile. "Rose and Clara just beamed us to the TARDIS. We'll be back in a little while."

" _Okay. Be safe and comm me when you get back,_ " Hera said before cutting the comm.

"I don't think she's too happy with you just beaming us away like that," Ezra said as he rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous fashion.

"She'll forgive us when she sees why," Clara told them cryptically.

"Come on," Rose said leading them all over to the doors. "We've got something to show you. Now, remember, don't step past the doors. We don't have the shield extended any further than that right now."

Sabine opened the doors and her jaw opened in shock at what she and Ezra were faced with. Before them, floating in space, was a modified Corellian YT-2600! It looked a little different than a standard 2600 and had the cockpit mounted in the center just behind the bow rather than jutting off from a side.

"Whoa!" Ezra exclaimed. "I didn't realize you'd be able to have it done so fast! It looks amazing! Is that really for us?"

"It is," Clara said. "And, it's a lot more modified than it looks."

"Those bow ports no longer fire torpedoes," Rose started. "Not needing the torpedo storage area is what allowed us to mount the cockpit just behind there. Instead, the nose now fires twin charged-particle plasma beams."

Sabine gaped at her, her mouth opening and closing but no words forming. She turned back to stare again at the monster disguised as a transport.

"In a standard model," Clara picked up, pointing at some panels on ends of the center line, "those panels would fold out, kind of like wings, mainly for extra maneuverability during atmospheric flight. But with the engines we gave it, that's not necessary. Instead, they fold out when you need to deploy the super shield."

"The what?" Ezra asked in disbelief.

"The super shield," Clara said with a grin. "It's the main function of the ship. Though be advised, when it's deployed, the nose cannons can't fire due to the amount of power that shield requires. It creates a one-way shield large enough to cover a moon, easily large enough for you to protect a fleet of ships."

"It actually has two decks," Rose picked up, "we couldn't resist making it a little bigger on the inside. The lower deck is split up into port and starboard aft cargo holds with the rest being a number of passenger cabins with a small passenger common area around the central core."

"The central core is where a lot of the magic happens," Clara said. "It's the one area we ask you not to do any paining, Sabine. It houses the computer core, power core, and nanite swarm within that central core. Along the walls of the outside of the core are some holo terminals, comm terminals, and on the upper deck it includes food production terminals like we installed on the _Ghost_."

"Up…upper deck?" Sabine asked, still in shock at what she was seeing.

"Yup," Rose said, popping the p. "The upper deck is split between port and starboard. The entire starboard side is the captain's suite, whereas the port side is split into several well-appointed staterooms for crew or VIPs, again with a common area around the port side of the central core."

Clara closed the doors and led the flabbergasted Sabine and Ezra to the seats by the console, handing them each a glass of water which they happily drank. While they were drinking their water and trying to get over their shock, Rose worked on the console to land them in the starboard cargo hold.

The first thing they saw when exiting the TARDIS was a fully enclosed speeder that could comfortably seat six people as well as a small amount of cargo. It looked to be attached to four cables hanging from the top of the room. It also looked to be heavily armed for a speeder.

"This is your personal speeder," Rose said with a soft smile. "It attaches to this hoist system so that you can lift it out of the way if you need the cargo space, but this cargo bay is meant to be more of a personal storage area for you. Underneath it is a loading ramp so you can just fly the speeder right out of here if you wish."

"Over there," Clara pointed to a ladder leading up to a hatch, "is access to the training room in captain's suite. Through here," she continued over to a door, "is the rest of the ship."

Passing through the door, Rose and Clara showed them around the rest of their new ship, showing them all the cabins, functions like the airlocks and the passenger loading ramp between the aft cargo bays, all the various terminals around the central core, the few ladders between decks, and the small lift tube near the cockpit.

Upon reaching the cockpit, Rose and Clara turned to the still stunned Sabine and Ezra with wide grins. "Welcome to your new ship, the _Mirage_ ," Clara told them.

"Mira?" Rose called out causing Ezra to choke in a gasp. "Would you introduce yourself please?" she continued.

A hologram of a beautiful woman appeared in front of them. She looked so real, with vibrant red hair and piercing green eyes. "Hello," she said.

"M… Mira?" Ezra asked in shock.

"What's wrong?" Clara asked with concern.

"Mira was his mother's name," Sabine piped in, instantly concerned about Ezra as she held onto his arm in a show of support.

"I am so sorry," the hologram said. "I can change my designation if that would make you more comfortable."

"No… no that's fine," Ezra said with a shake of his head. "I was just surprised is all."

"Mira," Rose said gently. "Please explain your function to your new captains."

"Certainly," she replied. "Given that this ship is much more automated than your average starship, there is no need for a droid like many ships employ. I am an artificial intelligence interface for the central computer that you can call on for nearly any function a droid would normally perform. Should you desire, I can even pilot the ship while you sleep or wake you in the event of an emergency."

"Thank you," Sabine said with a slight bow of her head. "It was nice to meet you, Mira."

"Likewise," she replied before blinking off.

"I am so sorry about that, Ezra," Clara said softly. "We had no idea. We simply chose the name Mira because, in our language, it means amazing or wonderful."

"That's alright," he replied with a sad smile. "It just took me by surprise is all."

"Well," Rose began, "as she said, she can perform nearly any function on the ship, as well as act as a translator for any guests."

"The last things of note," Clara said to finish up the tour, "are about escape and weapons. Since this ship has two docking airlocks, there was no room for an escape pod or excursion craft like the _Phantom_ on the _Ghost_. However, the speeder can be used as an escape pod for up to a dozen people in a pinch and makes for a decent fighter. Lastly, given how much is packed into the central core, there is no direct access to the gun turrets. They can be controlled automatically by the computer or manually here from the cockpit."

"There is one last thing, actually," Rose said as she pulled out two necklaces from her pockets. "These are very special necklaces. They will replace your entire wardrobe. You interface with them mentally like we taught you back at the station, form an image in your mind of what you want your outfit to look like, and they produce nanites to form clothing or armor."

"Does that mean we could disguise ourselves as bucket-heads without having to knock them out and take their armor?" Sabine asked.

"Yes, you could," Clara spoke. "And I hope you won't take this personally, Sabine, but you could even use it to duplicate your own armor, but even stronger. That way, if your current armor has any sentimental value to you, you don't have to worry about losing or damaging it."

"The little pendant crystal is a miniature computer and power core," Rose told them. "It will also work as an emergency beam out. You just have to say 'Mira, emergency' and she will beam you back to the ship from any distance within one light year."

"Thank you," Sabine said reverently as she and Ezra both put them on.

"And before you ask, yes, they are waterproof," Rose told them with a chuckle. "So, when you go to take a shower, just imagine your outfit retracting into the necklace."

 **.oOo.**

" _Hera?_ " Ezra's voice chimed over the comm.

"Ezra! Are you and Sabine okay?" Hera asked.

" _I don't know if we should be insulted by that accusation or proud that you care so much,_ " Clara's voice rang out.

"Well, you did beam them away without any warning," Kanan said from beside Hera.

" _Fair enough,_ " Sabine's voice came next. " _Can you meet us outside the Ghost?_ "

"We'll be right out there, sweetie," Hera said before cutting off the comm.

Hera, Kanan, Zeb, and Chopper all left the _Ghost_ and looked around the open area around where they were parked just outside the base, wondering where Ezra and Sabine were. Zeb had just opened his mouth to ask that very question when he was shocked into silence by the _Mirage_ decloaking as it started landing.

"Whoa!" Kanan said in surprise.

The aft ramp lowered and out walked Rose and Clara with Sabine and Ezra following a short distance behind.

"Karabast!" Zeb exclaimed. "Where did you get a YT-2600?!"

"Oh, this isn't our ship," Rose said with a smirk.

"It's their ship," Clara said with an identical grin as she gestured to Ezra and Sabine.

Both Ezra and Sabine smiled and waved sheepishly.

"What?!" Kanan and Hera both shouted at the same time. "Please tell me you didn't spend the last four hours stealing that ship," Hera added.

"They _made_ it for us," Ezra said with a nod at Rose and Clara.

"Say hello to the _Mirage_ ," Sabine said with an enthusiastic grin.

"But…" Hera started to say before Sabine rushed over to hug her.

"This isn't goodbye," Sabine told her firmly. "I expect we'll be docked most of the time anyway. It just means we'll be an extra hall away at bedtime. And you'll always have rooms here on the _Mirage_."

"Just like I hope we'll always have a room on the _Ghost_ ," Ezra said fondly.

" _A_ room?" Kanan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sabine reached over and smacked Kanan playfully for the tease. "You know what he meant."

"I finally get my own room again!" Zeb shouted with cheer in his voice but a slightly sad smile on his face.

"When did this happen?" Hera asked with a smile, curious about a new ship being added for their ops.

"When the _Ghost_ was being upgraded," Ezra replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Congratulations," Hera said as she pulled them both in for a quick hug.

"You better keep up your training even when we're not docked, Ezra," Kanan said with a smirk.

"You might eat those words in a minute, _master_ ," Sabine said with a smirk of her own, causing Rose and Clara to chuckle.

Kanan blinked in confusion at that statement and watched as Sabine pulled the Darksaber from her back and held it in her open palm. Sabine narrowed her eyes in concentration for a moment, before suddenly causing it to levitate above her hand.

"Wh…what?!" Kanan spluttered while the others gasped. "How is that possible? You never showed any signs of being Force-sensitive before."

"Clara and I can use the Force with just the power of our mind," Rose told him. "It's a genetic ability for us, rather than an ability based on the potential within the body."

"It was actually a very simple matter of adjusting her genome slightly," Clara said.

"So, you can just… make someone be able to use the force?" Hera asked in concern.

"Not everyone, and only if they are young enough for the procedure," Rose corrected.

"And these two," Clara gestured to Sabine and Ezra, "both came in just below that limit."

"Why would you do that for Ezra too?" Kanan asked. "He was already very strong with the Force."

Ezra smiled at that, not being used to compliments about his ability, while Clara answered. "As a backup. He will no longer be prevented from using the Force by something like electro-shock and if something terrible happens, like, gods forbid, losing a limb… it won't diminish his ability with the Force."

"Will you help me train, please?" Sabine asked in a small, uncertain voice.

Kanan stared in shock for a moment, having never heard her sound so small and worried like that before he snapped out of it. "Of course," he told her with resolve.

"Come on," Ezra said as he walked back up the ramp. "Come see your new home away from home."

Everyone loaded into the _Mirage_ with Rose and Clara following behind in case they needed to answer any questions. Ezra and Sabine showed them all around the lower level, the cargo areas, the passenger areas, the center core, while Zeb eyed the passenger rooms wearily, wondering how anyone could possibly sleep in there. Hera, being the most diplomatic of them, asked an obvious question. "Where's the cockpit?"

Ezra led them to the lift at the front while Sabine answered. "This lift is not accessible to passengers, only crew, and VIPs, which you all are included in. You go ahead, we will beam up since we can't all fit in there at once."

As they piled into the lift, Ezra, Sabine, Rose, and Clara all beamed up and met them at the lift doors as they opened. "Over here," Sabine picked up where she left off, "is the Captain's Suite. Over this way are the four staterooms, and through here is the cockpit."

"Beep boop bee beep!" Chopper chirped happily.

"That's right, Chopper," Ezra smiled at the quirky droid. "You don't need to plug in at all. You can communicate with the ship wirelessly."

"This is amazing!" Hera said as she sat down in the pilot seat and the windows all lit up with heads-up displays.

"There's something we forgot to mention about the transporter systems in both ships," Clara said with a smirk, indicating that she didn't forget at all but was keeping it as a surprise.

"They have what we are calling a smuggler's buffer," Rose told them. "A little utility that we stole from an enemy. Unlike a smuggler's hold that the Empire might find with deep scans, the buffer can hold cargo or people in transport storage, completely undetectable since nothing like these transporters exists in the galaxy currently."

"And that buffer can hold a lot," Clara said with a grin. "You could possibly beam an entire Star Destroyer into it and beam it back out later in another system."

Everyone gaped in shock at that, before Zeb finally broke the silence. "That's all well and good, but can someone tell me why the walls are all such a dull gray?"

"So that I can paint on them!" Sabine said with a grin, causing them all to laugh.

 **.oOo.**

The Ghost cell and several of their friends were meeting with Leia and Mon Mothma to discuss the new contributions they can make to the Rebellion. Rose and Clara were explaining about the upgrades to the _Ghost_ and the gift to Ezra and Sabine of the _Mirage_ , stressing that it was their ship and not an Alliance ship.

Both the Rebel leaders were looking highly skeptical about everything they were hearing when Ahsoka spoke up. "I know it's a lot to take in, but having spent a year training with them, trust me when I tell you they are not to be underestimated."

"Still," Mon Mothma said with a dubious look on her face. "I will believe this… super shield… when I see it in action."

"You mentioned that the engines you put in both ships are different from our usual hyperdrives?" Leia asked to change the topic. "Can you elaborate on that?"

"The standard hyperdrives that you are used to," Clara told her, "pull the ship slightly out of phase to make lightspeed and faster possible, but still have to deal with issues like the gravity well of stellar objects, or those interdictors."

"The type that we use and installed on the _Ghost_ and the _Mirage_ ," Rose picked up, "work on an entirely different principle. They open a window into a much higher energy phase, or dimension, that is perfectly frictionless and mostly unimpeded by stellar objects. The only downside to this type of hyperspace travel is that it requires shields to protect the ship and occupants from radiation."

"Which we of course also installed," Clara told them.

"And just how much faster are these hyperdrives?" Leia asked, gears obviously turning in her mind at some new possibilities.

"From here in the Yavin system…" Rose started doing some quick calculations in her head, "they could reach, say, Mustafar, in about an hour."

"B…but that would take days!" Leia spluttered in disbelief.

"Exactly," Clara spoke up again. "So, the Alliance now has a team with two ships that can get anywhere in the galaxy in roughly an hour, with cloaking ability and powerful weapons and shields, as well as no need for resources."

"We also brought you something that will help the rest of your ships to stay off the Empire's radar better," Rose said as she handed over a datapad. "This contains highly detailed star maps, as well as the plans for building much more sophisticated communications and navigation equipment. Using these new systems, you can communicate beyond the Empire's ability to track or jam, and travel above or below the galactic plane, totally bypassing most obstacles and completely avoiding the known hyperspace lanes that the Empire is forced to use."

"Doing that should cut that travel time from a few days down to one or two at the most," Clara added with a smile.

The two Rebel leaders stared at each other in shock before Leia spoke up. "How come we never thought to do that before?"

"You were working with what you had, with what you knew, playing by the Empire's rules," Rose said kindly. "This is just subtle enough to not occur to most people."

"Ma'am," Sabine spoke up. "I would like permission to leave and do some tests."

"What sort of tests?" Leia asked.

"Right now," Sabine started, gaining more courage, "The Mandalore sector is the best chance we have as a buffer between Yavin and the Empire, but the Empire is trying to again gain ground in the sector. They are backing clan Saxon in an attempt to create unrest and cause civil war to destabilize the recovery of the sector and people."

"I take it you have a plan?" Leia asked kindly.

"We were told that we could capture and hold a Star Destroyer and release it elsewhere," Sabine said with a grin slowly forming on her face. "I want to take the _Mirage_ and test that. Take one of the two Star Destroyers currently in the Mandalore system, and drop them at the edge of the Unknown Regions, just to disorient them and make them pause, not to mention freaking out the other ship that's suddenly without backup."

"You know," Rose started, "that was only for a reference to how much you can potentially hold in the transport storage buffer."

"You don't think it will work?" Sabine asked, a slightly troubled look on her face.

"It might, actually," Rose said. "But, it would probably take nearly half a minute for the transport to process. The amount of power it would require, you'd be completely defenseless. No shields, no weapons, and no cloak, so you would be spotted."

"What if…" Hera started with a grin slowly starting to spread across her face. "What if we dock the _Ghost_ with the _Mirage_ and then make the jump together? Would we be able to extend the cloak from the _Ghost_ to also cover the _Mirage_?"

"Now THAT is thinking outside the box!" Clara said with a laugh.

"And it should work," Rose added. "Even better, you could take along an Imperial shuttle with you. Set it adrift away from the system and fake a distress call to draw the Star Destroyers away. The _Ghost_ can then beam the shuttle back into its storage for the Empire to see, and then the _Mirage_ can beam one of the ships away leaving the other to panic. It will seem like some strange space anomaly, and not be connected with Mandalore at all."

 **.oOo.**

"The shuttle is adrift," Ahsoka said.

"Sabine, Ezra, go ahead and make the distress call," Hera called into the comm. "Make sure to keep your cloak over us as we beam the shuttle away and as soon as it's secured, we'll extend our cloak over you."

"Roger," Ezra said through one of his stolen stormtrooper helmets.

"We're relaying through the shuttle now," Sabine said to Ezra.

"HELLO! Is anyone listening?!" Ezra shouted through the Imperial distress channel, sounding rather haggard.

"Who is this? This is an emergency channel!" a jumped up Imperial communication officer replied.

"This is sh—tle… -drion! We're –der att-ck! –ight light sur—nded us… emerg—cy power only! N-ed back…" Ezra wheezed out, making it sound like the channel was cutting out.

"That… was moderately creepy," Sabine said to him with a smile after he cut the comm.

"What can I say?" he asked, still with the helmet on. "I like messing with imps."

"Two Star Destroyers just dropped out of hyperspace," Hera informed them a few moments later. "Beginning transport of the shuttle."

"Ahhhh…hhhh… uugggh….urk!" Ezra said through the relay as the shuttle glowed with the bright light of transporter beaming, before disappearing.

The closer Star Destroyer started firing on the empty space where the shuttle had been, just before Kanan's voice came over the comm. "Looks like they really took the bait. Our cloak is covering you now."

"Transporting now," Sabine said, followed by lights all over the _Mirage_ dimming lower and the closest Star Destroyer started glowing brightly. Everyone held their breath as it started glowing brighter and brighter, before eventually seeming to wink out of existence, and the lights in the ship to return to normal.

"The remaining ship is making a run for it," Kanan said.

"Good," Sabine said with a smirk. "Let them panic. Let's drop our loot in the middle of nowhere and make them wonder even more."

"Jumping to hyperspace in 3…2…1…now!" Ezra said as a dark purple hyperspace window opened and swallowed the two docked ships.

Hera and Kanan came into the cockpit a few minutes later, since the _Mirage_ was currently in control while docked. "I have NEVER seen a Star Destroyer turn tail and run like that before," Kanan said with a laugh.

"That was some good thinking, Sabine," Hera said with a smile.

"Hopefully it will make the Empire rethink their presence in that sector," Sabine said.

"When that Star Destroyer is finally able to make contact from a different part of the galaxy," Hera began with a smile, "I'm sure a lot of eyebrows will be raised in confusion."

"I hate to say this," Sabine spoke up. "But I think we should probably do the same thing to a couple Mandalorian ships as well, so it really looks indiscriminate. Two or three maybe, dropping them in random places, but not as far at the Star Destroyer."

"That might be a good idea," Kanan said.

 **.oOo.**

"So, it worked?" Leia asked a few days later when the Ghost cell was back at Yavin base.

"It did," Hera said with a smile.

"We did the same thing to a couple Mandalorian ships and a random light freighter as well," Sabine reported. "That way it really looks like a freak anomaly and not something targeting the Empire specifically. Should take any potential heat off Mandalore."

"That should give us a little more breathing room," Mon Mothma stated. "We are going to stage a few smaller ops, supply raids mostly, at other Imperial stations far from here. With any luck, that will make them think our primary base is somewhere else entirely."

"Only use these transporter systems as a last resort in the future," Leia said. "We don't want the Empire to connect that ability back to the Alliance."

"That's probably a good idea," Hera said with a nod of her head.

"For now," Ahsoka spoke up, "we are deploying back to Lothal."

Ezra perked up at hearing that. "Really? Why?"

"Partly to lay low," she responded. "But also, to make a nuisance of ourselves there in a minor scale. We're going to remind the Empire that we are there, but also be only annoying enough to make it seem like we are weak and not worth much effort."

"Make the Empire underestimate us. I like it," Kanan said.

"I'll meet you there," Sabine said to the rest of the crew.

"Sabine?" Hera queried.

"I want to drop off a new communication terminal to my family," she replied.

"I'll go with you," Ezra told her, before turning back to the crew. "Remember, the _Mirage_ is fast. We shouldn't be long."

When everyone stood to leave the briefing, Leia spoke up. "Ezra, can I have a word with you before you leave?"

Sabine narrowed her eyes slightly at Leia. She still knew next to nothing about the force at all, but something about Leia's request set her on edge. She nodded to Ezra before leaving the room for them to speak alone.

"How are you holding up?" Leia asked him once they were alone.

"What do you mean?" he asked evasively. The Force told him there were no ill intentions from Leia, but he could also sense something else underlying her concern, something more personal.

"Ezra, relax," she told him with a kind smile. "I know I haven't been as subtle as I could have been with my interest in you," she told him, causing him to stiffen his posture. "I know where your affections lie," she continued with a knowing smirk. "You don't have to worry about anything like that from me."

"Thank you," he responded softly, relaxing slightly.

"A lot has happened in the last several days since Atallon," she told him. "I want to make sure you're doing alright. You gave us all quite a scare when you threatened to leave Alliance to get help."

"Sorry about that," Ezra said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't mean for it to sound like a threat. I was just trying to stress how important I thought it was to take any help we can get when we know it comes from a good source."

"I understand," she replied. "And for what it's worth, I think you made the right call."

"Well," he started. "Just so you know, even if I did need to leave the Rebellion, I would still help out even if not actually a part of it anymore."

"That's comforting to know, Ezra," Leia told him with a smile. "I trust that you and Kanan and Ahsoka are going to be training Sabine to be a Jedi now?"

"She's already got a good grounding of combat training," he replied. "It's just her saber forms and interacting with the Force that she will need to work on, but yes. We'll make sure she's well trained."

"Good," she responded softly. "Now, I want you and your group to use at least some of this time on Lothal to relax and enjoy some downtime. You've all been through a lot and it's important that we also remember to enjoy life sometimes, so we don't forget what it is we are fighting for."

"You know… I never thought about that before," he said with a hint of surprise in his voice. "I always thought that if I wasn't busy doing something, helping out in some way, that I was letting people down."

"Well, it's time for you all to take a little time to relax," she told him with a smile. "Go on, have some fun."

"Thanks," Ezra said with a smile as he stood up, making his way to the door. "But call us if there is anything going on that we can help with as well."

When he stepped out of the meeting room, Ezra was surprised to see Sabine waiting still, holding her helmet at her side and looking at him with a single, raised eyebrow.

"Oh, hey, Sabine," he said nervously.

She quirked her other eyebrow at that greeting before asking him the obvious question with a slightly cold tone. "So, what did she want?"

"Oh, right. She said that she wants us all to use some of our time on Lothal to relax and enjoy ourselves, kind of like a working vacation, I guess," he told her as he stepped into the hall and they started walking towards the _Mirage_.

Sabine scoffed at that. "Did she now?"

"Yes," he said with a nod, oblivious to her distaste. "It makes sense too, the way she suggested it. She said that we need to remember to enjoy life, to not forget what we're fighting for," he continued, looking deep in thought. "And something about letting go of her crush because she knows that I don't share her feelings."

"Is that so?" Sabine asked, this time with more warmth.

"She also wanted to make sure I was going to help you train with Kanan and Ashoka."

"Well, then," she spoke again, this time with a smirk. "I'm sure I'll be trained up in no time at all."

Ezra looked sideways at her as they approached the _Mirage_ , and let out a quiet sigh as he saw her smirk. "You're going to do everything you can to kick my ass in training aren't you?" he asked, causing her to laugh.

 **.oOo.**

After dropping off the central comm unit and a few smaller comms to Clan Wren on Krownest, Ezra and Sabine met up with the _Ghost_ on the shores of one of Lothal's shallow freshwater seas. After landing, with the TARDIS between the two ships, the two friends exited the ship to see everyone relaxing along the shore.

"Well, don't you all look comfy," Sabine said with a smirk.

"Even Jedi knew the importance of taking a break from time to time," Kanan joked.

"Hold on, I'll be right back," Ezra said with a grin, before running into the _Ghost_ where he stripped in his bunk and then used his necklace to create a nice pair of swim trunks. "Thank you again for these," he said sincerely to Rose and Clara, gesturing to his necklace as he rejoined them. "This is going to make things so much simpler in the future."

"You're quite welcome," Rose said with a brilliant smile from her place next to Clara on their large beach towel. "I'm glad you all like them. It took me months to invent the prototype."

Ezra turned to look at everyone, before settling on Sabine who was looking at him oddly, but with a lopsided smirk which he returned with a twinkle in his eyes. "Last one in is a smelly buckethead!" he shouted as he ran for the water, jumping in with a splash and a laugh.

Rose and Clara shared a look and a smile before they both calmly walked into the water, enjoying the relative coolness compared to the warmth of the sun beating down on them. Sabine went back to her bunk with a smirk of her own to change while the others chuckled and decided to enjoy a swim as well.

Several hours later, just as the sun was setting, Clara started a campfire on the beach while Rose introduced everyone else to the wonderful treat of smores, which Ahsoka and Hera in particular loved. They all spent time sharing stories from their past, getting to know each other better, and just generally enjoying a relaxing evening together, for once not thinking about the Empire that was constantly breathing down their necks.

"Thank you, all of you, for the wonderful memories you have given us," Clara said with a soft smile to their friends, while gently squeezing Rose's hand.

"It's been truly wonderful to get to know all of you," Rose added.

"Wait…are you saying goodbye?" Zeb asked with a hint of sorrow.

Rose and Clara simply nodded before Hera spoke up. "Why?" she asked. "You don't have to leave. You've been an absolute joy to get to know. You are always welcome with us."

"Thank you," Rose said with a slight hitch to her voice. "That means a lot."

"That ship," Clara said, gesturing to the TARDIS, "is our home. But, we are travelers in spirit. We love to learn and explore, it's part of who we are."

"You'll still visit us, won't you?" Sabine asked in a quiet voice.

"Of course, we will," Rose replied. "And just so you know, the communications systems on both your ships can contact us wherever we are in time or space, regardless of what universe we happen to be traveling in."

"Before we go," Clara picked up as she stood, helping Rose to her feet as well, "we would like to speak with Ahsoka, Kanan, Ezra, and Sabine. Please, come with us," she said, leading them back to the TARDIS. Once they were inside, she led them deeper, all the way to the back of the gardens.

"These are for you," Rose said as she bent over and picked up four sonics, just like theirs, and handing them to the Jedi. "Ahsoka, we taught you how to use one of these. Please, teach Kanan how to interface with it and access the manual for it."

"I will," she replied softly. "Thank you for trusting us with these."

"There is another purpose for you to have these," Clara said as she led them behind some bushes, revealing a cave opening and stepping into it. When the others stepped in, the Jedi gasped softly in shock at the beautiful sight before them. The cave had a beautiful pool of water in the center but covering the walls of the cave in random positions, were softly glowing crystals.

"Are… are those Kyber crystals?" Kanan asked in awe.

"They are," Rose spoke quietly. "We don't know how this cave came to be on the TARDIS, but they are here for a reason."

"When you find a crystal that calls to you," Clara started, "you will be able to add them to your sonics. This way, you will always have a backup lightsaber should you need it."

"These devices do not wear out," Rose said. "So, since they will outlive you, we ask that you eventually hand them down to other Force users, those you trust to be kind and fair, but also just and unbiased."

"We ask that you do the same for your necklaces in particular," Clara continued. "These devices will always be able to be transported back to the wearer of the paired necklace."

All four of them nodded solemnly before silently wandering around the cave, until they eventually each had a crystal that called to them. When they were all back at the entrance of the cave, Rose gave them one last surprise.

"We tweaked the design of the lightsabers a little," she admitted as she pulled her own sonic from her wrist and turned it over, igniting her purple blade. "See this little button here, just below the adjustment dials?"

When they all nodded, she pressed the button which caused the energy beam to flatten out, as if it were squished against a flat surface, until it formed a circular shield roughly a meter across, causing them all to stare.

"We discovered how the sabers work," Clara told them. "The beam of plasma is contained within a special electromagnetic field. The added button just changes the shape of that, turning it into an impenetrable shield."

"Now, let's get back outside so we can say goodbye to the others," Rose said sadly.

 **.oOo.**


	16. Chapter 16: The Descendants

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** Sorry for the long delay. Life and other things are distracting. This story is really going crazy places in my head now… I'm seeing ways to also crossover into Harry Potter and Firefly and Babylon 5 and who knows what else. Sorry if it gets too crazy for anyone. When I do incorporate Harry Potter, I'm AUing the timelines a bit to make it mesh up with Stargate. It will also be a slight mix of the books and movies. Also, I just noticed after posting chapter 15 that I have been unconsciously writing this story in Arcs of three chapters each. Chapters 1-3 were the saving Rose and Clara Arc, chapters 4-6 were the Learning and training Arc, chapters 7-9 were the saving the Doctor Arc. While the rest of the story is well blended with Stargate (specifically the Ancients) chapters 10-12 was the initial Stargate arc, chapters 13-15 have been the Star Wars arc, and chapters 16-18 are the Potter arc. I like this formula so expect probably 2 more arcs from other universes after the Potter arc and then the finale arc. I may possibly do a single chapter for Star Trek Voyager as well to clean up the finale of that show.

 ** _Chapter 16: The Descendants_**

A month or so after leaving the _Ghost_ and its crew, Rose and Clara were floating through space in the Milky Way as they scanned the remains of the Ancient satellite network as well as the timeline of the past in an attempt to find out while the galaxy seemed so relatively sterile. While the scanners were working overtime, the girls were just finishing a late dinner.

"Did you see the new lightsaber design that Sabine sent us?" Rose asked as they were cleaning up after dinner.

"Yes," Clara replied. "I plan to input the design into a production terminal first thing after we wake up."

"You think we'll need them?" Rose asked with a surprised look on her face.

"Probably not," Clara admitted. "But, it is always nice to have a backup and the stun feature alone would be worth it, don't you think?"

"I suppose. I hadn't really thought about that," Rose admitted.

"It has all sorts of applications," Clara continued as they made their way back to the console room. "If it appears that is our primary weapon and defense and somehow gets taken, we still have the sonics as backup. Not only that, besides the stun feature, if we ever seem to be getting overwhelmed, we have the sonic in shield mode to help offhanded."

"Okay, okay," Rose said as she raised her hands in surrender. "I get it, you want a new toy to play with," she intoned with her tongue in teeth smile that Clara adored so much.

Clara grabbed Rose by the arm gently and spun her around, pulling her into a deep kiss which caught Rose by surprise for a moment. When the moment of surprise had passed, however, Rose melted into Clara's arms and returned the kiss with equal passion until they eventually pulled apart for air.

"I don't ever want to feel helpless again," Clara admitted as she rested her forehead against her lover's brow. "It seems like so long ago now, when I faced the raven. I tried to be brave, but I was terrified. I remembered what you told me, but I thought I might have dreamed it up."

"Hey, it's okay," Rose said softly as held the Impossible Girl while gently running her fingers through her dark hair. "I get it, luv. I do. If you want to create an entire stockpile of new sabers, I'll help you. If you want to train until we pass out, I'll help you with that too. We're in this together, remember?"

"Thank you," Clara said in a soft voice.

"Come on," Rose said as she took Clara's hand in her own. "Let's go to bed."

 **.oOo.**

Daniel knocked on the door frame of General Hammond's office and stepped inside when the General looked up at him.

"Doctor Jackson," he started. "What can I do for you?"

"General, I have some concerns about this mission," Danial told him bluntly.

"What sort of concerns, Doctor?"

"This memory probe the Tok'ra want to use on Sam," the archeologist said. "We've been through that before. It's not a pleasant experience."

"I understand that Doctor Jackson, but there doesn't appear to be any other way to accomplish this mission," the General replied with genuine regret.

"Actually, there might be," Daniel said. "I'd like your permission to make a call to some allies, General."

Hammond stared at him for a moment, apparently listing off any allies that could possibly be of help for something like this. It was a very short list, however, and with the Protected Planets Treaty, the Asgard would likely be unable to help, which left only one option that made the General smile slightly.

"Do it," Hammond told him.

 **.oOo.**

"So, you want to go rescue Sam's father and stop this snakehead from taking over, is that about it?" Rose asked into her wrist com.

"Yes, but it's a little more complicated than that," he told them.

"How?" Clara asked.

"It's hell," Daniel told them.

"That's a bit dramatic, isn't it Daniel?" Rose said with a raised eyebrow to Clara.

"I mean literally," Daniel corrected. "Of all the gods in mythology he could choose to impersonate, he chose the Devil."

"I've met the devil," Rose said with a snort. "He didn't have a snake in his head, but I understand what you're saying. We'll be there shortly."

"Thank you," Daniel said before switching off the com.

"You've met the devil?" Clara asked in disbelief.

"Long story," Rose replied with another snort.

 **.oOo.**

"Daniel, good, you're already here," Jack said as the team walked into the control room with the three Tok'ra that had come to brief them.

"I have the address of the planet where we will pick up the ship," Martouf said.

"Yeah… about that," Daniel started to speak but stopped when he felt something brushing against his mind, like he could sense something that wasn't there.

"Daniel?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow. "Something you want to…" he was cut off by a wheezing and groaning sound coming from the gate room. Jack's curious look changed into a small smile. "Ah, I see. You called for backup."

"Backup?" one of the Tok'ra asked, wondering what was making the sound.

They all watched in fascination, even SG-1 who had seen this before, as a black box with purple trim started to fade into existence in the gate room. Once the box looked solid, they heard a bit of a thud indicating that it had fully 'landed' and they walked into the gate room to meet the girls as they stepped out of the box.

"Rose, Clara, what are you doing here?" Sam asked as she gave each of them a welcoming hug.

"Daniel called us," Rose began. "Said something about going to hell to rescue your father and stopping the devil from taking over the galaxy." Sam turned and looked at Daniel with a grateful smile which he returned sheepishly.

"Well, come on. In you go," Clara said to the assembled team.

"Excuse me," Martouf started. "But, how are we all supposed to fit in there?"

Jack placed a hand on Martouf's shoulder, patting it slightly. "You know, Marty, I normally hate surprises. But trust me when I tell you, you're going to love this one."

As they all stepped inside of the TARDIS, the three Tok'ra stared around in shock. In all of their lives, they had never seen anything even remotely like this before. That this huge space could fit inside of the relatively small box they had just stepped into was something that shouldn't be possible for humans to be capable of.

"Welcome to the TARDIS," Clara said. "That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Sam, if you could come over here and place your hands into the neural interface, we can go get your dad."

 **.oOo.**

The rotor stopped moving with a thud. When they all stepped out, the Tok'ra were again astounded that they reached their destination so fast. Looking around, they all certainly felt like they were in hell.

"Well, isn't this lovely?" Rose said in obvious sarcasm.

"Look on the bright side," O'Neill said. "At least it's a dry heat."

"Sir," Sam spoke up. "Over here," she said as she led them to what looked like grating over the ground. As they approached they could see that it led to some type of dungeon filled with dead or dying prisoners.

Before they could even try to unlock the grate over the pit, a yellow bolt of energy flew passed them causing everyone to spin around and stare as a deep voice called out, "Halt!" Standing up on a ledge was a man with a strange helmet of chainmail covering his head and a staff weapon pointed right at them.

"Don't mind us," Jack said in a nonchalant voice. "We're just here to see an old friend."

The man fired his staff again, this time towards the Colonel's leg. Faster than anyone could see, Clara grabbed and ignited her new curved lightsaber, deflecting the staff blast back at the man, which hit him square in the chest.

As the man fell from the ledge, seemingly dead, his helmet fell off revealing the disfigured face of Apophis. SG-1 didn't know what was more shocking, that Clara dispatched him so quickly with what appeared to be a laser sword, or that it was Apophis to begin with.

After a moment of staring, they saw a disgusting creature slithering its way out of the mouth of the body. When it flopped out onto the ground, Clara quickly sliced it in half down the middle with the tip of her saber.

Jack, seeing no real loss, spoke up. "Nice. You wouldn't happen to have a few more of those, would you?"

"Sorry, Colonel," Rose told him. "To use one of these requires abilities that humans won't evolve into for a long time."

"You are not human?" Martouf asked in surprise.

"Can we deal with the history lessons later?" Sam asked. "I want to find my father."

"Sam?" asked a weak voice from the pit below them.

"Dad?" Sam asked in surprise.

"Am I dreaming?" he asked quietly to himself, yet just loud enough for them to hear.

"We're real, Dad. We're going to get you out of here."

Clara cut the lock of the grate with her lightsaber before deactivating it and placing it back on her belt as Rose lifted the grate and they all started making their way into the pit.

"Dad!" Sam exclaimed as she ran over to her father, who looked to be on death's door.

"Hey, kiddo," he responded weakly while coughing.

"He's in pretty rough shape," Rose said as she ran her sonic over the man. "We need to get him to the med bay right now." With that, she tapped a few controls on her wrist device and they all vanished in a flash of light.

Having been beamed directly into the sealed med bay, the nanogenes immediately got to work fixing Jacob Carter's most serious injuries and placed him into an induced coma while Rose looked at the readings on a holographic screen while making adjustments.

"I've induced a coma," she told them. "His injuries are easy enough to repair, but other issues like starvation and internal tissue damage will take longer, not to mention the healing of his symbiote."

"You can do that?" Martouf asked hopefully.

"Yes, but it will take some time," Clara said. "How about we head to the kitchen for something to eat and we can fill each other in on what's going on?"

 **.oOo.**

"So, we need to get rid of Sokar to prevent him from taking over the other snakeheads?" Rose asked, getting nods from SG-1 but frowns from the Tok'ra.

"That will not be enough," Martouf spoke up. "When one of the other Goa'uld realizes that Sokar is missing, they will move in and claim his territories. They will then have his fleet at their disposal and be able to make the same move against the system lords."

"So, we get rid of Sokar and his fleet then, sounds simple enough," Clara said.

The Tok'ra stared at her, dumbfounded until Rose spoke. "I'll go ahead and reconfigure the shell of the ship and move us to the far side of this moon," she said as she stood and brought her dishes to the sink. "While I do that, feel free to check up on Jacob," she told them as she left for the console room.

"Why do they not take this seriously?" Martouf asked Sam in a quiet voice as the group headed back to the med bay.

"What makes you think they aren't?" she asked just as quietly.

"Taking down a system lord and his fleet is nearly impossible, but they seem to think it will be a quick matter."

"Martouf, look around you. The technology they have at their fingertips is beyond anything we've ever imagined. Look at what you saw them do already."

The Tok'ra looked to be deep in thought and said nothing more as they approached the med bay. On entering, they were all surprised to see Jacob sitting up on the bed looking much better.

"Dad!" Sam said as she rushed to his side and threw her arms around him.

"Hi, Sammy. Thanks for getting me out of there," he told her as he returned her hug.

"Well, it was only hell," Jack said jokingly.

"Selmak," one of the other Tok'ra said with a little bit of shock in his voice. "It is good to see you well again."

Jacob dipped his head for a moment and his voice took on a much deeper tone as he lifted it again, indicating the symbiote was in control now. "I was worried we weren't going to make it. How were you able to save us?"

Everyone turned to look at Clara, who also turned to look and see if someone was behind her before turning back. "What? We just walked in and got him out of there. It wasn't that difficult."

"Let's not forget that you killed Apophis in the blink of an eye," Jack said with a snort.

"What!?" Jacob asked in shock.

"Someone showed up just before we found you," Sam told her father. "He tried to shoot Colonel O'Neill with a staff weapon but Clara here deflected it right back at him. His helmet fell off him as he fell and it was Apophis."

"I thought that was just Binar's First Prime," Selmak said.

"Who's Binar?" Sam asked.

"The Goa'uld that runs that hell hole, he serves Sokar," Jacob said with another dip of his head.

"Okay," Clara said. "So, we'll just grab all the Goa'uld on the planet and moon before we take out the fleet then."

"Oh, is that all?" Jacob snorted.

"Sam, you can fill him in while I help Rose get the ship battle ready."

"Wait, is she serious?" Jacob asked.

"We have a lot to catch you up on, Dad."

 **.oOo.**

"This is your ship?" Jacob asked in shock as he looked out the viewscreen at the massive battleship spread out ahead of them.

"More like our front porch," Rose said as she sat down in the control chair. "It's based on an old Explorer class vessel but upgraded for battle."

"Reading one Goa'uld on the moon and one on the planet," Clara said.

"Beaming them to the stasis cells now," Rose replied.

"Whoa!" O'Neill said as he watched what had to be fifty motherships rising from the surface of the planet. "That's a lot of ships."

"Is this all he had?" Clara asked Jacob who was staring out the viewscreen in shock.

"I imagine he has some stationed around his held worlds for defense, but this would be the bulk of his fleet," Jacob told them.

"Got it," Rose said. They all watched as the many turrets that seemed to bristle from the hull of the ship started turning and taking aim. "Fifty-three targets acquired. You're sure that if any single System Lord got ahold of this fleet, it would be bad for the galaxy?"

"The addition of a fleet this large would ensure a System Lord could rise to dominance," Teal'c responded stoically. "It is while they are fighting each other that they are at their most vulnerable and allows us to move against them with relative ease."

"Do you want me to do this, Rose?" Clara asked with some concern.

"I'm fine," Rose replied as she sat back in the chair again. "I just wanted to make sure."

"Make sure of what?" Sam asked.

"That I'm not about to slaughter thousands of Jaffa needlessly," Rose responded solemnly.

"If it helps," Jacob offered, "the attack wasn't supposed to happen for another ten days. For this many ships to launch so quickly would mean a bare minimum crew, if even that."

"Actually, that does help a little," Rose told him with a sad smile. She closed her eyes to interface with the ship once more, and a moment later, two hundred turrets opened fire. It took a total of fifteen seconds for fifty-three motherships to be reduced to debris.

"Holy Hanna!" Sam exclaimed in shock. "I knew this wouldn't be difficult for you, but that was just scary."

Rose didn't reply, she simply opened a hyperspace window and took them back to Earth. The trip only took about three minutes and when they arrived in orbit, Clara spoke to them. "Sorry to cut this trip short, but we have some things to take care of." After she tapped a few controls, the entire group minus Rose and Clara beamed back to the SGC.

"Come on, Luv," Clara said as she gently pulled Rose from the chair and led her back to the garden to meditate and try to relax.

 **.oOo.**

The following day, after a fitful night of sleep and a delicious breakfast prepared by Clara, Rose asked a question she was thinking about all morning.

"Do you think we should beam back down to the SGC to see if they need us to add anything to the debrief?"

"I don't think that's necessary," Clara started to say. She was interrupted from continuing when a beeping on their wrist devices caught their attention.

"That's strange," Rose said as she looked at her wrist display. "Sensors are picking up bursts of fluctuating zero-point energy readings from the surface. Are we still in orbit of Earth?"

"Yes," Clara responded. "I didn't bother moving us after resetting the outer shell back to default."

"Let's go take a closer look," Rose said as she walked off towards the console room with Clara following after her, shaking her head and smiling softly.

When they arrived in the console room, the background humming almost sounded amused as Rose walked over to the sensor panels and brought up a large holographic screen.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" she said with a loud laugh.

"What is it?" Clara asked as she walked up behind Rose.

"Take a look at these readings," she replied with her tongue-in-teeth grin back in full force. "You know, I think this might even be a step in proving the theory that for everything we can imagine, there is a reality that it exists in."

"These readings look like people using the Force to manipulate zero-point energy with various effects," Clara said as she looked closely at the readings on the display. "That's pretty interesting, but I don't see why it has you so worked up like Christmas just came early."

"Look at the location of the readings," Rose began. "And then zoom in."

"Oooookay… what am I supposed to be see…" Clara suddenly cut herself off as she realized what had Rose so excited. "Seriously? Seriously?! You're telling me that's a true story but one that happened in this universe and not ours? How the hell would she even know about it to be able to write it all down?"

"No idea," Rose said. "But like what happened with the quantum mirror exploding and being amplified, perhaps she had dreams that had somehow been influenced by energy transfer across realities."

"We might as well get down there to see if we can help," Clara said with a smirk.

 **.oOo.**

Harry stood with Luna watching out the window as the wards were raised to their maximum defensive power and the Professors added their own temporary wards layered from the inside of the ward bubble.

"It's very impressive, isn't it?" Luna said in her usual dreamy voice.

"Yeah," he replied with a sad sigh. "I just wish it wasn't necessary."

A moment later, there was a bright flare against the wards outside the window and the castle gave a mighty shake. It was repeated again, causing everyone to stop and stare outside at the flare of magic in the sky. After the third such flare and shaking, everything went still again.

Luna suddenly grabbed Harry's hand and held it tight as her eyes glazed over. "Three knocks," she whispered.

"What's that, Luna?" Harry asked.

"Three knocks," she repeated. "Harry, we need to stay right here."

"But, Luna, I have to find the diadem now," he told her urgently.

"No, you don't," she told him. "That was three knocks, Harry. The future is changing, it's changing all around us as we stand here. You must stay right here."

"Luna, you don't understand," he tried implored. "If I don't find it, he'll never…" Harry collapsed heavily onto the stairs as his scar erupted in agony.

"Harry!" Luna nearly screamed. "What is it?"

"Ron and Hermione," he ground out through the pain. "They must have destroyed the cup," he said.

"You see," she told him in a concerned voice but with a small smile on her lips. "The future is changing."

As Harry stood shakily to his feet, he saw out the window another flare against the wards, but with no shaking to accompany it, and this one wasn't fading. He watched in horror as the wards started to fail and fracture. Voldemort was tearing down the wards personally and doing a swift job of it.

As the wards finally fell, he watched, frozen in terror as the monsters of the dark army began to swarm towards the castle. "I was too late," he said in quiet horror.

"No, Harry," Luna said softly. "You're just in time to see something amazing."

Not knowing what to say to that, Harry watched out the window and was shocked when he saw a new, glowing shield spread out rapidly from the castle in all directions, driving the dark army back once again.

"What? How?" he asked in confusion but was stopped from saying any more by the strangest sound he had ever heard building slowly from the base of the stairs he and Luna were standing on.

 **.oOo.**

"What the hell was that?" Rose practically screamed as she picked herself up from the floor of the console room for the third time.

"We obviously can't get through their shields," Clara said as she stood as well. "Third time was certainly not the charm so let's not do that again, okay?"

"You think that _magic wards_ are enough to stop the TARDIS?" Rose asked incredulously.

"I think that Hogwarts is alive, just like the TARDIS is, and she doesn't want anything to get through the wards right now so the TARDIS is respecting her wishes."

"Well that's just great, how are we supposed to help now?" Rose asked in exasperation.

"If this plays out anything like the story we know," Clara started, "then those wards will be down soon enough and we'll be able to land then."

"Alright. For now, I can think of something else to save a bit of time then," Rose said as she adjusted the controls and took them on a new course.

"Where are we going?" Clara asked curiously.

"If I'm right, the Room of Requirement is kinda like a TARDIS, a programmable pocket dimension of some kind," Rose told her. "I'm taking us in through the bubble dimension to get the diadem."

"That's not a bad idea," Clara said with a smile.

 **.oOo.**

"What the hell is that?" Harry asked as he watched a black and purple box appear at the base of the stairs.

"The future," Luna told him as if that explained everything.

Harry stared at her for a moment and then turned back to the strange box as doors opened from it revealing two girls not much older looking than himself.

"Are you Harry and Luna?" the blonde girl asked.

"We are," Luna replied with a bright smile and her usual dreamy voice. "And you are the future changers."

The brunette stared at Luna with her mouth open for a moment before regaining her composure and chuckling at the blonde. "Oh, I think these two are going to be a lot of fun."

"You might be right," Rose said as she held up the diadem and looked to the teens before her. "Come along you two," she said as she walked back into the box.

"Luna?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"I will never question your instincts again."

Luna leaned up and kissed his cheek before pulling away and giving him a serene smile. "That's good to know, Harry, but I think it's time to see what the new future holds." As they walked into the _Wolf Den_ , the two teens stared around in surprise.

"Go ahead, say it," the blonde stranger said with a grin. "Everyone does."

"Say what?" Luna asked in confusion.

"How did you get all this muggle technology to work with magic?" Harry asked.

Rose pouted while Clara laughed. "Don't be too disappointed, luv. Remember, they've spent plenty of time in tents that are bigger on the inside," she said as she quelled her laughter down to quiet chuckles. "It's very nice to meet you both," she continued. "My name is Clara and the pouting blonde over there is my wife, Rose."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Harry said a little urgently, "but I really need to destroy that diadem you have there and get back to what I was doing."

"Don't worry about that, Harry," Rose said with a grin. "You have all the time in the world to complete your task."

"Welcome to the TARDIS," Clara said.

"Time And Relative Dimension In Space," Luna said with a smile as Rose and Clara stared at her in shock. "It's a time machine," she continued dreamily.

"Like a Time Turner?" Harry asked her curiously.

"Oh, please," Rose scoffed. "If a Time Turner were a scooter, this would be a sports car."

"Oh, gods," Clara groaned. "You really have become the Doctor, haven't you?"

Rose stuck her tongue out at her wife while Luna spoke up. "Shall we go and get the others?"

"Others?" Rose asked in confusion.

"Of course," Luna said with a wide smile. "We can't go to Atlantis without the others."

Rose and Clara looked at each other bug-eyed at that statement.

 **.oOo.**

Ron and Hermione made it out of the Chamber of Secrets just in time to see the wards falling and the dark army start to advance. They were standing with Remus and Tonks, watching in terror as they looked like they were about to be overrun. All four of them stared in shock a moment later when another shield radiated out from the castle.

"What in the world is that?" Hermione asked.

"It looks like a shield bubble being projected from within the castle itself," Remus said in awe.

"Is that even possible?" Tonks asked in surprise as her hair cycled through several colors.

"There's no mention of it anywhere in Hogwarts: A History," Hermione started to rattle off. She never got a chance to finish what she might have said next as Remus and Tonks watched as Ron and Hermione vanished in a plume of bright light.

 **.oOo.**

"Professor!" Tonks shouted as she and Remus ran up to the newest defacto Headmistress. "Ron and Hermione have been taken!"

"What!?" Neville shouted as he and Ginny ran over to them. "What do you mean they've been taken?"

"Who took my brother?" Ginny asked in a cold voice.

"The just disappeared," Remus stated, only slightly more calmly than Tonks. "They vanished in a bright burst of…" he was cut off as Neville and Ginny also disappeared in the same flash of light.

"Just like that!" Tonks screeched.

"My word!" Minerva said in shock. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Neither have…" Remus was again cut off as he and Tonks disappeared.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Potter," she said quietly to herself.

 **.oOo.**

Severus Snape stood leaning with his back against the exterior wall of the castle trying to figure out what his next move would be. He was supposed to convey a message to Potter but had no idea how to do that while the boy was out for his blood. He didn't have much time to contemplate his situation as he disappeared in a flash of light.

When his vision cleared, he saw that he was in the strangest room he had ever seen and realized that the so-called ministry six where there with him and Potter was hugging that infernal werewolf.

"What is going on here?" he asked in a strangely silky voice with his usual stoic look on his face. He was answered by eight wands suddenly pointed at his face.

"Why did you beam this monster here too?" Harry asked the two, as of yet, unidentified witches. The boy was obviously seething with rage.

"Calm down Harry," the brunette witch told him. "He didn't really kill Dumbledore. Or, rather, we're going to ensure he doesn't really have to."

"Professor Snape," the blonde greeted him with a nod. "It's an honor to meet you. My name is Rose and this here is my wife, Clara."

"You consider it an honor to meet one of the most hated murderers?" Snape asked dryly with a single raised eyebrow.

"How about you just show us your patronus and tell us the story that you are supposed to convey to Harry here?" Rose said with a smirk as Snape gasped and took an involuntary step back from her.

"How do you know about that?" he hissed out.

Everyone but Rose and Clara looked at him in surprise and their wands lowered slightly prompting Clara to speak. "We'll tell you that later. You should probably just get your story over with while everyone else is still in shock and more willing to listen."

"Very well," Snape said as he stood up a bit straighter.

 **.oOo.**

Albus Dumbledore stood in front of the shack staring at the ring that held the Resurrection Stone. He was transfixed by it and slowly moved to put it on. He was brought out of his stupor, however, by a most unusual sound building behind him.

Turning around. He was surprised to see a strange black and purple box fading in an out of existence before it became fully visible with a thud. The doors opened slowly and revealed none other than the form of his newly appointed Defense Professor.

"Severus?" Albus questioned. "What are you doing here?"

Without answering, Snape pulled his wand as quick as a flash and cast, "Stupify!"

Dumbledore slumped to the ground, the box holding the ring closing as it thumped to the ground beside him.

"I can't tell you how immensely satisfying that was," Snape said as he turned, showing a rare, genuine grin.

Hermione snorted in a most unladylike way while Harry simply smiled and the others chuckled lightly.

"Bring him in," Rose said. "We have one more stop to make."

"We do?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes, Harry," Rose said kindly before turning to Clara. "Reconfigure the outer shell and the door, please. I think if we make the shell flat and invisible that should be enough to keep the timeline intact."

"On it," Clara replied as she tapped several different controls. Snape levitated Dumbledore and the ring box inside and propped the headmaster up in one of the chairs.

Harry heard Hermione gasp from beside him and turned to look at her, but she was staring at the doorway that had morphed to look like a thin, black sheet fluttering in a gentle breeze.

"Is that… is that what I think it is?" Harry asked in shock.

"It would appear so, Harry Potter," Luna said.

"I don't get it," Ron said as they heard the ship land with its usual thud.

Only a moment later, the unconscious form of Sirius Black fell through the fluttering doorway to land in a heap in the console room.

"Sirius!" Harry shouted as he ran to the knocked-out form of his godfather. Casting an enervate, Harry was relieved to hear a groan from the prone man.

"Ugh," groaned Sirius. "Did anyone catch the number of that Knight Bus?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake. Get up Black, it was only a stunner," Snape said.

"Pup?" Sirius said as he opened his eyes and saw Harry.

"Come on Padfoot, we have a lot to catch you up on."

 **.oOo.**

"That is quite a tale," Dumbledore said as he sat back, sipping his tea as the others finished their dinners. "And I have heard a number of tall tales in my life."

"You don't believe them?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"Quite the contrary," Albus clarified. "I was merely commenting on how truth can indeed be stranger than fiction."

"And to think," Rose began with a smirk to Clara, "we haven't even gotten to the space vampires yet."

"What!?" the ministry six exclaimed in shock.

"Don't rile them up like that," Clara said as she smacked Rose's shoulder playfully. "It's nothing you have to worry about right now," she continued as she turned back to the group.

"Indeed," Albus said. "Right now, the most pressing concern is Voldemort."

"Fortunately, we have a time machine at our disposal," Rose said with a grin. "Plenty of time to train up to finish him once and for all."

"So, who's ready to visit Atlantis?" Clara said with a smile as they all made their way back to the console room.

"An Ancient city of our ancestors?" Snape queried in disbelief. "That part I do have some trouble believing from your story."

"Yes, well," Rose started as she walked over to the central console. "We had intended to leave the city for the humans, or as you might call them, muggles, to find and learn from."

"That was a plan we had developed before we learned there were still descendants living on Earth," Clara picked up. "The way I see it, though, is that much of the prejudice that makes up the Pureblood dogma is actually based on a deep seeded resentment of having to hide from the muggles."

"That might possibly be the case," Dumbledore agreed. "At least partially."

"There are what," Rose started asking, "about a million or so magical humans on Earth?"

"A rough estimate," Dumbledore admitted.

"Atlantis itself can hold a population of two million," Rose told them. "After we deal with Voldemort, you can slowly start feeling people out and gradually move the magical populations of Earth to Atlantis."

"What about the truly unredeemable criminals like Bellatrix," Hermione asked.

"The veil," Clara responded.

"That's a bit cold, isn't it?" Dumbledore asked.

"When we picked up Sirius, we scanned the veil. It was actually an attempt to make a stargate based on what little had been passed down using only magic," Clara told them. "It turns out that it mostly worked. It leads to an old prison world, a moon actually. It's automated with the basics of food and shelter being provided and the prisoners are actually free to move about, but they can never leave the moon. It is hidden by a planetary cloaking generator and protected by a satellite defense grid."

"We're here," Rose interrupted as she walked over to the doors and opened them. She stepped out into a familiar hanger.

"Why did you bring us to the station?" Clara asked.

"I did a scan of Atlantis from orbit," Rose told her. "It is dangerously low on power and we wouldn't be able to upgrade the power systems before the shield failed. We need to pick up a stock of zero-point-modules before we can land there."

 **.oOo.**

"Everyone, stay here," Clara said to the assembled group. "The more people that step out of the TARDIS and into the city, the more power it will draw. We need to replace the power modules before it will be safe."

As Rose and Clara stepped out of the TARDIS, Harry asked the question they had all be pondering. "Do you really think we can do this? Years worth of training in a single day?"

"Look at everything we've already seen them do," Hermione said. "Look at all the amazing technology they have. I don't believe we have any reason to doubt them."

"Miss Granger is, of course, correct," Albus replied. "While the magic they describe, or technology, are beyond even my many years of learning, I have no reason to doubt them."

"Thank you for that vote of confidence, Professor," Rose said as they walked back into the TARDIS and closed the doors. "We will do our best to not disappoint you."

They worked at the controls for only a few seconds before the TARDIS landed again and they all filed out this time into what could almost be described as a throne room. Rose sat down in the only chair in the room causing it to light up and recline as she closed her eyes.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, ever curious.

"That is the control interface chair," Clara explained. "She is mentally interfacing with the city's central control systems to get a status update, make sure certain systems remain offline, and ensure we are not disturbed here."

"I've also erected a time dilating stasis field around the city," Rose said as she got out of the chair. "It will prevent you all from aging any more than a day while within the city while the field is active."

"Why would you want to do such a thing?" Albus asked.

"Mainly for the teens here," Rose said gesturing to Harry and his friends. "It would not likely not go over well for them to show up at Hogwarts to end the war looking years older."

"A well thought out solution then," Dumbledore replied.

"We have something we need to take care of first, however," Rose said.

"What's wrong?" Clara asked.

"There's someone else here," Rose told her as they all filed back into the TARDIS.

When they landed again, they were in what looked like a lab but with a number of strange compartments built into the walls. Rose walked over and ran her hand across controls and one of the compartments lit up, revealing an old woman in stasis.

"My word!" Dumbledore said. "Didn't you say that this city has been beneath the ocean for ten thousand years?"

"Yes," Rose replied. "And the city didn't record anyone else coming or going since then. So, she is ten-thousand years old."

"Is she a mummy?" Ginny asked.

"No, she's in stasis," Clara answered. "Because of the stasis chamber, she has only aged about one hundred years."

"Clara," Rose started. "I'm going to need your help for this. I think that if we are going to enter her mind without waking her from stasis, it will require both of us."

"Okay. Let's see what her story is then, shall we?" Clara replied as she walked over and took Rose's hand in her own. They each placed their free hands on the stasis pod and a moment later, they started to glow with a purple aura.

"Merlin's balls," Sirius spoke softly in shock.

"Crude, but understood," Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Do you suppose that's normal for them?" Tonks asked.

"Only when they need their combined power," Luna said dreamily.

"How do you know these things, Luna?" Harry asked.

"I don't rightly understand," she replied.

"I believe," Dumbledore started, "that you are in tune with the currents in the flow of time, Miss Lovegood. And possibly with the multiverse itself."

"That would explain why she can see things others can't," Rose said, drawing everyone's attention back to the no longer glowing couple. "Things such as nargles."

"Were you able to learn anything from her?" Remus asked.

"Quite a bit," Clare replied. "She will be able to tell you all about it when the cloning process is complete."

"Cloning?" Hermione asked. "You can do that?"

"Yep," Rose said. "When the clone is complete, we will be able to transfer her soul and consciousness into the new body."

"Remarkable," Albus commented.

"We can do the same for any of you," Clara said. "Which reminds me, Remus. Would you like us to go back in time to get a sample of your DNA before you were bitten and clone you a new body free of lycanthropy?"

"You would do that?" Remus asked, a bit choked up.

"Sure," Rose said. "In fact, for any of you that would like it, we will even upgrade your current genome to that of a full Ancient like us. As it is, you are currently part Ancient."

"It's really that easy for you to do?" Hermione asked with a contemplative look on her face indicating her mind was spinning at hyper speed.

"Go on, Hermione," Luna prompted her softly. "It can't hurt to ask."

"I should probably discuss it with Tonks first," Hermione replied.

"If you want to talk to me about it, I can guess where you're going," Tonks said. "I imagine it could be quite fun teaching you all that."

"What's on your mind, Hermione?" Rose asked kindly with a smirk.

"If genetic cloning and manipulation is that easy for you," she began. "Would it be possible to scan Tonks' DNA to figure out what makes her able to morph and possibly add it to all of our genomes?"

"That should be easy enough," Clara commented making them all stare at her in shock. "In fact, you just gave me a completely different but brilliant idea."

"I did?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"I do believe you may have just saved Harry's life," Clara answered with a nod.

"You mean the Horcrux in my head, don't you?" Harry asked glumly.

"Yes," Clara replied but with a bright smile. "To do what Hermione is asking would require you all to go through a cloning process similar to Remus or Elizabeth here," she said as she gestured to the woman in the stasis pod.

"When we do that for you, Harry, the Horcrux would remain in your old body," she continued. "Your body would then be an empty shell, like what is left after a Dementor's Kiss. We could then kill that body and the Horcrux within it, leaving you free of harm in your new body."

"Thank Merlin," Albus said softly as he slumped against a nearby wall.

"Professor?" Neville asked as he helped Dumbledore to steady himself.

"I was afraid that the only way for him to be free of the Horcrux would be getting struck by a killing curse from Voldemort," Albus told them with deep regret. "No matter how hard I searched, I could find no other method of removing it."

"Indeed," Snape spoke up thoughtfully. "That was the message you had commanded me to pass on to Potter."

"Well, we have a sample of Elizabeth's DNA already," Rose said to break the somber mood. "Let's get up to the infirmary to get samples from each of you. Clara and I can get the cloning process started elsewhere under a different time dilation field so we can start transferring you to your new bodies within the next day or so."

 **.oOo.**


	17. Chapter 17: The Power He Knows Not

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** First, I'm sorry about the last chapter and how exactly I brought in the Potterverse. I don't really like stories where someone "enters" a fictional world from the "real world" etc. Like stories about someone reading the Harry Potter books getting sucked into them Myst style and becoming a part of it that way. I had to include it the way I did though because in at least one Doctor Who episode, (the one with Martha and Shakespeare I believe) he talked about the books. Other than that, I love Harry Potter/Stargate crossovers because (Spoiler alert) in a late season of SG-1 we find out there was an Ancient that called himself Merlin, complete with the nights of the round table etc. That's a really great way to explain magic and connect the two universes.

 **A/N2:** I need to apologize for the many months delay. I'd actually finished this chapter and the next before I stopped updating, but didn't post because I've been stuck. I don't like how this story is going. I had way too many ideas for the conceptual "Impossible Wolf" to have fun with, and tried to do way too much, way too fast, and it all has come out far more cheesy than I intended and also far too rushed. I believe this is primarily because I wanted it to be a character driven story based around Rose and Clara and their relationship, but I fell into writing it more scene oriented based on tech ideas I had and event fixes I like the idea of. I've been agonizing over how to basically replace these next two chapters, but the truth is, I need where they lead for ideas further on. So, I'm sorry to say that this chapter and the next will still be "Mary Sue" swill that it is currently stuck as. After chapter 18 though, the girls can finally have some rest, and basically reset their minds, figuratively speaking. So, the story will be taking another tone and direction shift with chapter 19, basically starting a "Part Three" section of the story that I hope will be much better. For those of you that have stuck through the crap I've already spewed out, I thank you deeply and hope you will enjoy the story after the slog through this chapter and the next.

 ** _Chapter 17: The Power He Knows Not_**

A year and a half later found the group having lunch in one of the Atlantis mess halls, smiling and joking after an intense morning of magical and force training. Harry smiled from his place near the end of the table, his scar long gone along with his need for glasses. Hermione to his side was leaning her head on her friend's shoulder and smiling at the joyous atmosphere.

Across the table from them were Neville and Ginny laughing at some story Sirius was telling about a prank he had pulled on Remus. Neville in some ways was the least and most changed of the group. He looked physically very similar to how he had when he first arrived on Atlantis, but his persona had changed greatly. No longer was he the shy boy he had first seemed to be despite his trials. Now he carried a sense of purpose and confidence with him.

Ginny, like Harry, had kept her smaller stature, favoring speed and agility over strength. She radiated with an inner strength, however, one that defied anyone that would try to keep her inner firecracker contained.

Ron and Luna made for the strangest pair of the group. Ron had grown out of his jealous nature when he realized that he was truly part of a very special and pioneering group. Luna, on the other hand, was still just as quirky with a singularly unique view of the world around her. She and Ron were the major tacticians of the group. His mastery of strategy synergized with her unique view of the world around them.

Remus and Tonks were truly the least changed of the group. Everyone suspected it was the desire to return to their infant son that kept them as they were, yet they too had grown more powerful as they trained.

Beside them sat Sirius Black, now jokingly wooing the young Doctor Elizabeth Weir. There was no romance there, but there was a surprisingly deep kinship that had formed. Her laugh was infectious as she continually asked him what wild things he would have done in some of the diplomatic situations she'd had to deal with in the past.

Perhaps the most obvious change was in the resident potions master. Now free of the dark mark, Severus Snape truly began to enjoy life again. He no longer glowered at everyone as if they had personally kicked his puppy. Instead, he could often be seen smiling or deep in thought over some research he was doing.

Their hosts, the delightful Ladies known to them as Rose and Clara sat with them, now in what appeared to be a deep discussion with Sirius. How much they all owed these two for the changes they were bringing to their world. How much they had learned and taught, how much more they would teach.

And then there was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, sitting at the end of the table taking it all in. Gone was the grandfatherly persona. Now, there sat a young man with shoulder length auburn hair and a twinkle in his piercing blue eyes. Like the others, he had let them clone him and modify his new body with the new genetic template. Unlike the others, however, they had returned him to his place in the timeline and then scanned his consciousness and soul into the new body from literally seconds before the impact of the killing curse that would have ended his life.

The cloning program had been a great success. While everyone at the table had the ability to morph at will, they were all currently in their base forms, so to speak. They all now had a shared genetic template, based largely on a start from Rose and Clara but added onto with abilities from the group, such as Tonks' metamorphing combined with Sirius' Animagus ability and Hermione's keen intellect along with Luna's perceptive nature.

Together as a group, the first new High Council of the Ancients, they decided this would become the new genetic template for anyone brought into their new society that wanted to enter what they would now call the Academy of the Ethereal. This would also mean careful moral teachings through the entirety of their new culture and even more careful screening of those that would wish to join them.

It was the abilities contained within this genetic template, such as shapeshifting, regeneration, connecting with the Force, space and time walking, as well as the intense training in those abilities, that would make them Ethereal Lords and Ladies. They all agreed, however, to refuse to allow the title of Ethereal Lord to become a symbol of division as the rank of Time Lord had become among Gallifreyians. It would simply be the highest academic level to strive for, such as a doctorate for humans.

The title of Ethereal Lord would, in fact, only allow for a small amount of additional privileges within their new society. First being a sort of Ambassador-at-Large type of status. This would allow them to speak on behalf of the High Council when needed.

In addition to this, they would all be allowed their own personal Mirage class starships. These would be identical in every way to the first _Mirage_ that Rose and Clara had gifted to Ezra and Sabine. Lastly, it would allow them to wear a heavily upgraded necklace. While the standard Ancient necklace could provide a wardrobe and armor, as well as a personal shield and some storage, the upgraded ones would allow for much greater storage within a pocket dimension, enough to easily hold their personal Mirage class ship within. Dumbledore was pulled from his musings by the sound of Sirius speaking up.

"You mean there's more? I thought you said we had completed our training?"

"We have all completed our magical and Force training," Clara told him. "To the levels of Arch Mage or Jedi Master respectively. This afternoon we will begin the final phase of training, in lightsaber combat and technology."

"And you won't be alone," Rose told him with a grin.

"We're having someone else join us?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"That's right, Siri," spoke a new voice as she walked into the room.

"Ami?" Sirius asked in shock. "Is it really you?"

"It's really me," she told him with a grin as he rushed over and enveloped her in a hug.

"Well, how about that," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling in mirth. "Amelia Bones, welcome to Atlantis."

"You knew about this?" Sirius asked with a playful glare.

"I had a suspicion."

"We needed a test subject," Rose told him. "Since Albus here has agreed to be the civilian head of the High Council, we asked his opinion on who might best fit the role of Councilor of Security."

"As the most fair, most wise, and most effective Head of the DMLE, I could think of no better candidate," Albus said with a smile.

"What did you need a test subject for?" Hermione asked in obvious curiosity.

"All of the training we have done and will do will be added to a new, Ethereal Lord teaching repository," Clara said. "We wanted to make sure it would work, so added what we've done so far to the new repository system just before lunch started and Amelia has been using it since then."

"And I must say," Amelia spoke as she sat down next to Sirius. "It was by far the most interesting learning experience I've ever taken part in."

"We'll do some testing on all of us after lunch," Rose said with a devious smirk. "If you're on par with these miscreants, we will begin the next phase of training soon after."

 **.oOo.**

It was a few months later when they were well into their saber training that the interruption came in the form of a rapid beeping from Clara's wrist device. She checked the readings and tapped several of the controls with a frown marring her face.

"What is it, luv?" Rose asked her.

"Atlantis sensors are picking up a very faint distress call," she replied with concern. "From right here in our own solar system."

"Should we prepare to deploy to render assistance?" Rose asked.

"Not likely," Clara told them as the others were gathering closer to find out what was wrong. "It's automated… and Wraith."

"Wraith? Here?" Rose asked in shock. "Why didn't the sensors pick it up sooner? It must have been in the system for some time before it would need to send out a distress call."

"I'm not sure," Clara admitted. "It could be interference because of the time dilation field, or it could be a trap."

"While I would normally be inclined to think trap, especially with regards to an enemy" Amelia said, "we are still undetectable at the bottom of the ocean. There is no way for them to know anyone is here to set a trap for."

Rose and Clara looked at each other, seemingly communicating without words, before Rose turned to them all. "Gear up," she told them. "There is a hostile, potentially wounded enemy in our back garden. Full armor, full awareness, weapons hot."

"Remember what we told you about the Wraith," Clara said. "They do not negotiate, they do not care, they only attack and feed. Your armor should protect you. Remember to line the fingers of your glove armor with naquadah so it will conduct to your saber hilts, otherwise you won't be able to channel through your kyber crystals like a wand."

"Be ready to move out in five minutes," Rose told them as she and Clara headed to the TARDIS. "This is NOT a drill."

"Do you think they are ready for this?" Clara asked as she and Rose entered the TARDIS.

"I don't even know if _we_ are ready for this," Rose admitted. "But, if there are too many of them, we will just beam back to the TARDIS and destroy the ship."

When everyone had assembled in the console room, they were all wearing identical black armor. While the helmets and repulson jet packs looked Mandalorian in origin, the rest of the armor looked to be made of flexible and lightweight metal scales of some type. The brilliance of the design was that it offered full range of movement while still giving the protection of a fully armored space suit. Besides size and shape, the only difference between them all were the various stripes and symbols on their shoulders.

Rose worked at the central console in silence while everyone was lost in their own thoughts. A moment later, the TARDIS landed with a thud and they all looked around at each other, hoping they weren't in over their heads.

"I'm not reading any life signs," Clara said from the sensor station. "Keep your HUDs active and be mindful of your surroundings anyway," she added. "Hibernating Wraith usually don't show up on scans."

"It looks like it crashed a long time ago," Rose said from where she had opened the doors. "Possibly during the siege before the city was abandoned."

"It looks like they didn't die in the crash, though," Sirius said as he pointed to some skeletons in the sand outside of the ship.

"Thank you for pointing out that lovely fact, Black," Snape said sarcastically.

"This way," Rose said. "There is a breach in the hull we can enter."

"You want to go _in_ there?" Ron asked with some surprise.

"At the very least we want to disable the distress beacon," Clara said as they stepped inside. "I'm detecting some faint power readings."

"Well, something has to be powering the distress call," Remus said.

"Let's split into two teams," Rose said. "Clara, you take Albus, Severus, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Luna to find the bridge. See if you can disable the distress beacon and if there is any intel of value that you can find."

"What are the rest of you going to do?" Clara asked.

"I'll take Amelia, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Neville and Ginny to track down the power source and remove it to ensure the beacon can't be reactivated," Rose replied.

"Good luck," Clara said with a nod as the two teams split up and went their own ways.

 **.oOo.**

"Looks like this one is dead," Remus said as he and Sirius knelt down next to a seemingly preserved corpse of a Wraith soldier.

"Look at this," Sirius said as he pulled away a piece of decayed armor from the torso.

"It looks like another Wraith fed on this one," Rose said in disgust.

"Wraith cannibalism?" Amelia asked in surprise.

"Probably only as a last resort," Rose said as she stood. "Come on. The power signature is this way."

 **.oOo.**

"Something doesn't feel right," Harry said as they were making their way in the direction they believe the bridge to be.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked him.

"I don't know how to describe it," he admitted. "It's just a general sense of danger, like when the hair on the back of your neck sticks up kind of feeling."

"That would be your instincts and Force reflexes reacting to the Force around you," Clara told him.

"But, I've felt like this before I even knew anything of the Force," Harry replied. "Like, in second year when the basilisk was roaming the school."

"Remember that what we have come to call magic," Albus began, "is our natural ability to sense and use the Force. Using the Force to manipulate zero-point energy is what happens each time we cast a spell."

"It's awake," Luna interrupted them.

"What's awake, Luna?" Ron asked in concern.

"The vampire," she said just as everyone's helmets began displaying a new reading to each of them.

"And it's coming this way," Snape said as he pulled the lightsaber from his belt and readied it in his palm.

"What was that?" Hermione asked as she looked down the hallway.

"Put your mind shields up," Clara told them urgently. "The Wraith can get inside your head and make you see things that are not there."

"My shields are up," Harry said. "But, I can still see _that_ ," he finished as he pointed at the hulking figure standing just meters from the group. It was well over two meters tall with long, white hair and a predatory grin that showed it's pointed, goblin-like teeth.

Snape pointed his saber at the being and cast, "Stupify!"

The wraith stumbled only slightly as it started walking towards them. When everyone else grabbed their own sabers and pointed them at the creature, it stopped for a moment, as if assessing the threat before him.

With another disturbing grin, the Wraith moved with lightning speed, knocking Albus, Snape, and Clara down easily and advancing on Luna. Ron reacted instantly, reaching out with the Force and throwing the monster against the wall.

As the creature stood back up effortlessly, it charged at them again. This time, Harry was ready as he ignited his blade and spun around quickly to strike at the Wraith. The monster barely managed to duck in time and changed its target, focusing now on Harry instead. Faster than they could see, it pushed Harry against the wall and thrust its free hand at his chest.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted in fear for her friend as she ignited her own blade, but it was unnecessary. The creature looked on in confusion as his hand failed to extract the life energy from his victim.

"My turn," Harry said as he pushed out with his hand and flung the creature away. As it tried to stand again, Harry reached out and grabbed him with the Force, causing the monster to dangle in the air as it floated slowly towards its armored foe. Changing his blade to its whip mode, Harry spun around again and lashed out with the whip, causing it to wrap around the Wraith's neck.

The beast looked at the purple rope of energy in shock and its eyes widened just before Harry gave an almighty tug of his hilt. The Wraith's head was cleanly removed from its body and fell to the floor with a thump, followed a moment later by the rest of the body as Harry released it from his Force grip. With a sigh, Harry deactivated his hilt.

"Are you all okay?" Harry asked as he turned around to face the group. He found most of them staring at him in shock.

"How did you know how to kill it, Harry?" Hermione asked as she shook herself free of her shock and walked over to give him a hug.

"Just seemed like the right thing at the time," he told her with a shrug after she released him from the hug. "I thought I wouldn't be much good without my head on my shoulders so this thing shouldn't be either."

"Are you sure about that?" the creature's head spoke from the floor where it landed and rolled a little away from them.

"Ahh!" Ron screeched in surprise as they all watched the body trying to fumble around for the head. "What the hell?!" he shouted after he composed himself.

"Well, that's different," Clara said as she ignited her blade and stabbed it through the fallen head of the Wraith. She followed this up by slicing the body straight down the middle. "I'm pretty sure it can't recover now."

"That was a Wraith?" Albus asked after a moment of thought.

"Yeah," Clara responded. "Commander by the looks of him. We had no idea they could survive decapitation, however."

"Hopefully he was the only survivor on the ship," Snape said dryly.

"Yes, let's hope," Clara replied. "Let's get to the bridge and complete our mission so we can go home."

 **.oOo.**

"How did it go," Elizabeth asked as the returning group filed out of the TARDIS in a corner of the gate room. She had elected to stay behind to keep watch of the city, just in case it was somehow a ploy to draw them away from Atlantis.

"We disabled the distress beacon, destroyed the power source, and downloaded the computer banks," Clara informed her. "There was only one Wraith survivor."

"Was?" Elizabeth asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Lord Potter here dispatched it after it attacked us," Snape supplied.

"Well, it sounds like things were handled fairly easily. Perhaps you'd all be up for another mission?" she asked.

"What happened?" Rose asked in return.

"While you were gone, I retuned the sensors to scan the entire system for any signs of the Wraith," she told them. "To my great surprise, I detected a cruiser on the bottom of the ocean near the old geothermal platform."

"Lovely," Clara deadpanned.

 **.oOo.**

"Minerva, what happened to my kids?" Molly Weasley asked as she stopped short after running to the professor. It had only been a minute or so since several people had been reportedly taken by a strange light.

"I am sorry, Molly, but I honestly have no idea," Minerva replied with sadness. "I only hope this is not some new magic that Voldemort has created to kidnap them."

The two witches fell into silence, each wondering what this new turn of events might mean, when they were brought out of their thoughts by a wheezing, groaning sound. They stared in shock, along with the rest of those currently in the Great Hall, at the sight of a strange looking box slowly appeared next to the doors. When the doors of the box itself began to open, every single member of the Order of the Phoenix that was there raised their wands and so did the professors.

"I assure you, it is perfectly safe for you all to lower your wands," said the voice of none other than Albus Dumbledore as he stepped out looking as grandfatherly as ever.

"That is not possible," Minerva said through gritted teeth as she clasped her wand tighter. "Potter saw you murdered by that bastard Snape."

There was a flash of fire in the center of the space between them which cleared to reveal the red and golden form of Fawkes. The immortal phoenix stared at his old friend for several long seconds in which not another word was uttered. Everyone watched on in silence as the phoenix finally flew over and landed on Dumbledore's shoulder. The elderly looking man reached up and gently stroked his faithful companion.

"I have missed you as well, my old friend," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Albus?" Minerva asked in quiet awe. "Is it really you?"

"Indeed," he answered her. "What Lord Potter witnessed last year was a necessary ruse."

" _Lord_ Potter?" Minerva asked in surprise.

"That's a long story, Professor," Harry said as he and the others now walked out of the box that the others had somehow forgotten was behind Dumbledore.

"Auntie!" Susan Bones shouted as she ran over to her aunt and gave her a long hug.

"I am so glad you're alright, Susan," Amelia said as she held her niece.

"How is this possible?" Susan asked as she rubbed the tears from her eyes.

"As Harry said, that is a long story," Amelia told her. "We will be sure to tell the entire story as soon as Voldemort has been taken care of."

"Perhaps we should take this out to the grounds where we can deal with our uninvited guests?" Dumbledore suggested.

"HARRY POTTER!" the angry voice of Voldemort shouted with the help of a sonorous charm. "How much longer do you plan to hide? How many more will you let die for you before you face your destiny? You have one hour to meet me within the forest. If you do not, I will raze Hogwarts to the ground!"

"Professor," Harry said as he turned to his head of house. "Can you get everyone into the quidditch stands in that amount of time?"

"Whatever for?" Minerva asked, with extreme confusion evident on her face.

"Our friends here," Dumbledore began, "can shield the stands so strongly that not even the Killing Curse will be able to penetrate."

"We're going to eliminate the fear of Voldemort once and for all," Harry said.

 **.oOo.**

"I thought he would come," Voldemort said softly as he turned slowly to face his assembled Death Eaters. He began walking slowly towards Hagrid, intent to let some of his anger out on the half-giant, when a faint noise made him pause.

"Harry!?" Hagrid cried out in anguish. "No. What are you doing here?"

As one of the Death Eaters shushed Hagrid, Voldemort slowly turned around again to see his enemy standing there boldly without an ounce of the fear he would have expected.

"Harry Potter," Voldemort said as Harry was very obviously not paying attention. Instead, Harry was looking at them all, as if sizing them up. "The Boy Who Lived," Voldemort continued in disgust. "Come to die."

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" Harry asked casually as he finished his assessment, noting the positions of everyone and mentally sending the information back to Rose. "You seem to think you're all powerful, Tom," Harry said brazenly causing Voldemort to hiss in anger. "Why not let everyone see your _great_ power then?" he continued with a note of disgust in his voice.

With that, everyone in the forest clearing disappeared in a flash of light. When they could see again, Hagrid found himself in the stands as Minerva removed his bindings. Voldemort and his Death Eaters found themselves near the middle of the pitch, but Nagini found herself behind the line of defenders. With barely a though, Neville spun around, ignited his saber, and ended the snake right then and there before quickly deactivating his blade and spinning back around.

"NO!" Voldemort screamed in rage. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

"As a matter of fact," Dumbledore said, "we do."

"Dumbledore," Voldemort spat. "How is it that you and apparently Bones there have managed to cheat death."

"The answer to that is quite simple, Tom," Dumbledore responded. "We were never killed in the first place."

"You're now just as mortal as the rest of us, Tom," Harry said as Hermione dumped the other destroyed Horcruxes from a box to the ground. Harry then took about five steps forward, indicating to all that he was in charge for the moment. "The way I see it, you have two choices, Tom. You can give up and spend the rest of your miserable life in Azkaban, or you can die here today."

"Remove your anti-apparation wards, Dumbledore," Voldemort snarled. "Or, I shall kill everyone here while you watch helplessly, starting with your golden boy here."

"Oh, you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am in anyway control of what happens next," Ablus replied. "I have erected no wards, though it may be possible some of our friends have. No, I and the others are here to simply keep your minions from interfering with the duel between yourself and Lord Potter."

"You really think you are ready to face me, boy?" Voldemort tried to taunt.

"Nope," Harry replied casually. "Looking at you makes me rather sick to be honest. But I am ready to kill you."

"You dare!" Voldemort screamed. "Avada Kedavra!"

Harry, having expected this, quickly ignited his lightsaber and batted the Killing Curse away, coincidentally causing it to hit Bellatrix. Her body fell to the ground with a look of shock etched on her now lifeless features.

While everyone in the stands gasped in shock, Harry simply spoke again as he deactivated his lightsaber. "You're going to have to do better than that. Of course, you can still give up."

Voldemort cast the Killing Curse again. This time, instead of batting it away, Harry responded with his own silent Expelliarmus. The two spells clashed half way between the two combatants and caused a golden dome to appear around them. This one however was not caused by brother wands fighting each other, but instead a dome of energy forged from prophecy to prevent interruption.

Outside of the dome, all hell broke loose as some of the Death Eaters tried to get in to help their master, while others fired a volley of Killing curses at the defenders only to drop as their own curses were batted back at them. Most surprising of all, was that several of the families in the Death Eater ranks, such as the Malfoys, simply walked away from the battle and over to the entrance to the pitch where Kingsly and several Aurors as well as several members of the Order of the Phoenix were standing.

Within the dome, Tom dropped his curse and rolled away to avoid the disarming hex. As he rolled back to his feet, he sensed that the anti-apparation wards would not let him leave, but that they also did not affect the interior of the dome itself. Smiling a sinister smile, he disapparated. When the reappeared behind where Harry was, he was shocked to not see the boy there.

"Were you planning to curse me in the back?" Harry asked from behind him. "A bit cowardly, wouldn't you say, Tom?"

"Don't call me that!" Voldemort screamed as he spun around with a curse on his lips, only to find no one there.

"I'm over here, idiot," Harry called causing Voldemort to spin around again, seeing Harry now in a spot near the other side of battlefield created by the dome. "Do you want to know what the rest of the prophecy said?" he asked casually.

"The prophecy was destroyed," Voldemort snarled.

"True," Harry replied, still looking like he didn't have a care in the world. In truth, he was fairly terrified, but he knew he had to maintain an air of calm indifference to keep Tom off balance. "But you forget that it was initially told to Dumbledore, who in turn told me."

"You let your precious godfather die to keep the secret of the prophecy from me," Voldemort sneered in an effort to upset his foe. "Why would you now be willing to tell me?"

"It may have escaped your notice earlier," Harry said as he twirled the curved hilt of his lightsaber around in his hand. "Sirius was standing right there next to Amelia. They make a cute couple, honestly."

"Well, if you're so anxious to spill your secrets, then by all means, enlighten me," Voldemort said, still with a sneer as he cautiously walked towards his enemy, surprised that the dome was still up around them when they weren't even pointing their wands at each other, let alone intercepting spells.

"It basically said you would mark me as your equal," Harry said as he lifted the fringe of his hair to show the scar he morphed back onto his forehead. "It also said that I would have a power you didn't know and that one of us must kill the other to truly be able to live."

"Then I shall relieve you of that burden by killing you quickly," Voldemort said as he whipped his wand up to fire another Killing Curse. But, before he could even say the first word, his arms were suddenly locked at his sides and he was floating slightly off the ground.

Harry stared at him hard with his left hand outstretched, holding the Dark Lord with the power of the Force. "You could have been great, you know. You could have helped shape our world for the better, rather than trying to conquer it with fear. Instead, you let some petty grudge against your parents and the muggles that bullied you at an orphanage corrupt you."

"You know nothing!" Tom spat.

"I know more about what you went through than possibly anyone else in the magical world," Harry told him sadly. "I grew up with muggle relatives. They hated my mother for being magical and hated me for the same reason. I was physically and emotionally abused, forced to live in a cupboard for ten years."

"Why is it that you defend the muggles, then?" Voldemort asked with what, for the first time in many years, could be described as genuine curiosity.

"Because most of them are not as bad as those we grew up with," Harry told him. "The fact of the matter is, muggles are simply human. Wizards and Witches are part human as well, but also part of a race that mostly died out a long time ago. We are what remains."

"If that is true, then why not rule over the worthless humans instead of living in fear of them discovering us?" Tom asked with a mix of confusion and arrogance in his voice.

"What's the point?" Harry asked. "Remember the Hogwarts motto? Never tickle a sleeping dragon. Besides, with what I have learned, I plan to lead the magical world to a new planet entirely, one where we can live and practice magic openly."

"You're delusional, Potter," Voldemort spat venomously.

"I've already been to that world," Harry told him as he set Tom back on his feet and released his Force grasp. "Atlantis is the lost city of our ancestors and it still exists on that world."

"You really believe that, don't you?" Voldemort asked him contemptuously.

"It's where I have been practicing my skills and new abilities for that last three years, with the help of some time manipulation," Harry told him honestly.

"If any of this insane rambling were even true, why would you bother telling me?" Voldemort asked him.

"Because I used to hate you," Harry said. "And then, as the new High Councilor of Atlantis began teaching me of your life, I grew to pity you. But now, I understand you. You used to fear those that bullied you as you were younger. That made you angry because you felt weak. That anger turned to hate and that led you down your dark path. I thought that, before you die, you might appreciate knowing that the future of the wizarding world will be much better than you could ever have dreamed."

"You aren't lying, are you?" Voldemort said in surprise.

"Nope," Harry replied simply.

"What is to prevent me from simply killing you and taking this _great_ destiny for myself?"

"You're welcome to try," Harry told him.

Voldemort did just that. He whipped the Elder Wand up quickly and fired off a Killing Curse in the blink of an eye. Harry simply ignited his lightsaber and batted the Killing Curse back at him. Voldemort, formerly known as Tom Riddle, dropped to the ground dead with a look of shock on his face. A moment later, the dome of golden energy died with him.

Looking over at the battle that had stopped suddenly, Harry was surprise to see only a handful of Death Eaters left on their feet. Many were laying dead on the ground from reflected curses, but those left standing looked at their Master's body in shock as Harry calmly walked over to the body of Voldemort, picked up the Elder Wand that had fallen to the ground, and placed it in the pocket of his robe.

"If you don't want to end up like your master here, I suggest you all drop your wands and line up on the ground over there," Harry said. The fact that he looked absolutely no worse from his fight with Voldemort made them all comply.

 **.oOo.**

"Thank you, Harry," Susan Bones as she pulled him into a tight embrace. He had just stepped into the great hall when he was pulled into the surprise hug, but he didn't really mind.

"For what?" he asked as he returned the hug for a moment before stepping back to look at her. Her eyes were red from crying but she was still beaming a smile at him.

"Auntie just told me how she was saved by you and your friends," she told him.

"Well, it's really Dumbledore, Rose, and Clara you should be thanking then," he told her with a faint smile of his own.

"I did," she told him. "But they said they wouldn't have known to come here if they hadn't known about you," she concluded.

"Well, I didn't really do anything," he told her. "But I understand the sentiment. You're welcome. I just hope everyone can move forward from here."

"I don't think that will be a problem," she replied. "After everything I was just told about the last three years for you guys, I don't know how to believe it. But the fact is I _want_ to believe it. I expect most of the wizarding world will be the same."

"Let's hope so," he told her with a grin. "I better get over there."

"Yeah," she said with a shy smile. "They actually asked me to let you know they were waiting for you."

"I'll see you later, I'm sure," he said with a gentle smile as he stepped away and walked over to the assembled group he arrived with.

"Alright there, Harry?" Ron asked with a smirk.

"Never better, Ron," he replied with a wide smile. "And I actually mean that too. Voldemort is finally gone. I can finally live my life."

"That you can, Harry. That you can," Dumbledore told him with a fond smile. "You should know that I have been asked to take on the position of Minister for Magic for the interim until the chaos dies down and someone else can be selected."

"Does that mean you will be able to negotiate with the ICW to get the devices distributed to every witch and wizard?" Harry asked hopefully.

"You know, I hadn't honestly considered that," Albus replied with a bit of surprise. "I suppose that will smooth things along."

"What devices are you talking about, Mr. Potter?" Minerva asked.

"We created some devices for communication," Harry told her. "We are going to give them away for free so that everyone can hear our story all at the same time, all over the world."

"Is that really necessary?" Minerva asked with some surprise.

"For this story," Clara began with a grin, "you will want to hear it with a bottle of the best firewhiskey you have."

"Albus," Rose started as she looked at him. "When you are ready to start the distribution, let us know. In the meantime, the rest of us will begin distributing the devices to the other sentient magical races."

"Are the Malfoys still in the antechamber?" Hermione asked now that other business was completed for the moment.

"They are," Albus replied. "Amelia and Tonks are guarding them at the moment."

"Are you sure you want to come with me, Hermione," Harry asked her again. "You know it is not likely to be a pleasant conversation."

"I'm sure, Harry. They need to see that it is not the purity of one's blood makes a difference," she told him.

Harry just sighed as they walked over to the door of the antechamber where Tonks opened it and let them in.

"Potter and his pet Mudblood?" Draco sneered having regained some of his superior attitude now that the danger had passed.

Hermione responded by reaching out with the Force and lifting the ponce into the air.

"Whoa!" Draco exclaimed as she began to toss him around the room while also making sure he didn't actually impact against anything. "What the hell? Let me down this instant!"

Hermione merely smiled as she twirled him about in the air a few times before eventually setting him back in his chair. "And I didn't even use a wand," she said as she pulled her saber hilt from her waist and used it to conjure chairs for herself and Harry.

Harry, for his part, smiled patiently as he and Hermione sat in their chairs.

"Why have to asked to see us, Potter?" the senior Malfoy asked tiredly.

"I thought we could all sit down and have a nice little chat about the fallacy of blood purity," he responded cheerfully. "Specifically, why you think muggles and all those with them in their family lines are beneath you."

"What does it matter?" he drawled. "You've won. You defeated the Dark Lord again."

"It matters because if our community is going to know lasting peace," Harry began, "then we need to stamp out bigotry before it can take hold. You seem to think that muggles, or as I like to call them, humans, are somehow beneath you. Why is that?"

"You say humans as if we aren't human," Mrs. Malfoy said.

"I did, didn't I," Harry responded with a smile. "That's because we're not human. At least, not entirely."

"Malfoys are not some half-breeds!" Draco snarled.

"That's where you're wrong," Hermione said pleasantly.

"Why you, filthy little mud…" he started to say before his father cut him off.

"Silence, Draco!" Lucius told him firmly before turning back to them. "Explain."

"Wizards and Witches are, in fact, a crossbreed of sorts," Harry said. "What makes us magical is that a long time ago, about ten-thousand years to be more precise, another race very similar to humans but far, far older, began intermingling with humans. They brought something very unique to the genepool."

"If you don't know anything about muggle science," Hermione picked up, "you might say that they were a special addition to the breeding stock. It is because of that contribution that we are able to use and interact with something simply called the Force. We are able to use this Force to manipulate something else that we call zero-point-energy and form that into the spells you call magic."

"You are saying that Wizardkind is descended from the crossbreeding of this other race and humans?" Lucius asked in disbelief.

"That's exactly what we're saying," Harry replied with a nod.

"If what you say is true," Narcissa started, "and I'm not saying I believe you, why are you telling us this?"

"Because of a simple theory we want to test," Hermione said. "This bigotry towards half-bloods and muggleborn doesn't make any logical sense on the surface. The only way it makes any remote sense at all is if it were borne out of a resentment of muggles in general, or more specifically, the statute of secrecy that forces us to hide from them."

"I have to admit," Lucius said slowly. "That might possibly be the source. The idea that we must cower and hide from beings we are superior to is loathsome. Why should we have to hide from them when we could rule them?"

"Because they could wipe us out," Hermione simply stated which caused the Malfoys to scoff in distain and disbelief.

Harry simply ignited his lightsaber momentarily. "This device, which so easily batted away the Killing Curse, is a piece of technology. The humans can make a device nearly this small that would be capable of destroying all of Hogwarts, making the area for miles around uninhabitable for the next several thousand years. A bigger such device could do the same to cities like London or New York."

"What makes you think we could rule over people with that kind of power?" Hermione asked bluntly.

"Why would they make such things?" Lucius asked disbelievingly. "Why would they make devices to kill themselves?"

"You're joking, right?" Harry asked before turning to Hermione. "Please, tell me he really didn't ask that."

"Why would wizards kill each other over a difference in belief like blood purity?" Hermione countered.

"What is the point of all this?" Narcissa asked tiredly.

"Pretend for a minute that you believe everything we've told you so far. We can prove it to you later if you wish," Harry added. "Would you believe that the ancestors we told you that we are descended from did not originally come from this planet?"

"If you could offer proof," Lucius started, "possibly."

"We will prove it to you later then," Hermione said.

"Pretending for a moment that you believe all that," Harry began. "How would you feel about moving to a different planet? One where you could become more like our Ancient ancestors and not have to hide from anyone? A world where there was no statute of secrecy because there would be no one to keep the secret from."

"I would think it's too good to be true," Lucius admitted. "What is the catch?"

"The catch," Hermione said with a predatory grin, "is that once we prove all this to you, we will want your help in convincing others like you."

 **.oOo.**

It was only a week later that the High Council were on their way back to Atlantis on the Flagship of the Supreme Commander of the Ancient Fleet. That position was currently held by Harry and the ship was modeled after the old Explorer Class hull design, just like the form the TARDIS would sometimes take. With them were a delegation from both the British Ministry for Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards, both to see the evidence of their ancestry and the city of Atlantis in order to report back.

"You're leaving?" Harry asked in shock.

"Not forever," Rose responded with a smile. "But we are travelers, wanderers. It's who we are."

"We also have responsibilities in other universes" Clara added. "It's been years since we've been home and we have some old friends to check in with."

"But you'll still visit us, right?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Of course," Clara told her. "We still have some things we want to show you and your friends as well."

"Harry?" Ron spoke up from one of the terminals on the bridge. It wasn't really necessary to have a crew, but it helped to keep busy sometimes. "I'm tracking a really strange echo on the sensors. I think it's a ship."

"We're in the void between galaxies," Hermione stated with some confusion as she walked over to Ron's station while Harry sat in the control chair. "Well that's strange," she continued after checking the readings. "It's not in hyperspace. It's in normal space traveling at nearly the speed of light."

"What percentage of lightspeed?" Rose asked curiously.

"It looks to be 99.9996%," Hermine responded after a moment.

"That is strange," Clara commented. "Do you having a course heading yet?"

"Projecting course now," Hermione replied. She gasped a moment later and then double and triple checked her results. "If their course doesn't change… they are heading to the Orion arm of the Milky Way!"

"You think they are heading to Earth?" Rose asked in surprise.

"I can't be sure yet with how little tracking data we have so far," Hermione informed her. "But it's looking that way so far."

"Harry?" Clara started to ask.

"Matching course to intercept," he responded.

"If you could, Harry, please drop us out of hyperspace about half an hour ahead of them," Clara suggested. "That will give us time for better scanning and possibly to open communications with them."

"Is that wise?" a member of the ICW delegation asked.

"It's the right thing to do," Rose countered. "To be traveling at that speed and not be in hyperspace, while impressive, is also inadvisable. Do to the effects of relativity, they could have left millions of years ago and only a dozen or so years would have passed for them. Based on that, it is more likely that their hyperdrive has failed and they need assistance. We also want to make sure that if they _are_ heading to Earth, that they are not a threat."

Barely a moment later, a hologram of a woman appeared on the bridge just in front of the viewport. "Unknown vessel, I am Captain Helia of the Lantean warship Tria. Our ship has suffered damage. We have scanned your vessel and determined that it is capable of hyperspace travel. We've begun deceleration maneuvers. Will you render assistance in the form of hyperspace transport?"

"Captain Helia," Harry responded as he sat forward in the control chair after setting the hologram for two-way communications. They all watched her eyes widen at seeing someone sitting in an active control chair. "I am Harry Potter, Supreme Commander of the Fleet. Let me be the first to welcome you to the future. Due to the effects of relativity, you and your ship have been missing and presumed lost for ten-thousand years. We will hold position and await your station keeping maneuvers. Contact us when you are ready and we will beam you aboard for debriefing," he told her with a smile.

"Thank you, Sir," she said with obvious shock in her voice before her hologram blinked out of existence.

"You handled that very well, Supreme Commander," Hermione said with a smirk.

"She's right," Clara told him. "You were very professional and promised a two-way exchange of information. That will allow you to get to know them and allow them to get up to speed on the changes from the world they knew."

"I hope you're right," Harry said with a sigh.

"Good luck," Rose said with a smile as she and Clara walked over to the TARDIS which was sitting off to the side of the bridge.

"You're leaving right now?" Harry asked with some concern. "What if we need more help? What about the delegations? Without the TARDIS, how will they understand what's being said? We haven't gotten to the point of teaching them the Ancient language yet."

"You all have the gift of languages," Rose said with a knowing smirk. "One of you will simply have to play the role of translator for the time being."

 **.oOo.**


	18. Chapter 18: Home Is Where the Heart Is

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** As I stated in the previous author note, this will be the last chapter with such a high level of obvious cheese. After this, I will finally transition to the Rose/Clara centric story I wanted it to really be from the start. Also... SURPRISE! Two chapters in one night!

 ** _Chapter 18: Home Is Where the Heart Is_**

"Rose?" Clara asked as she closed the doors of the TARDIS behind her and slumped heavily against them. "Can you take us into the vortex for a while before we go to Torchwood?"

"Sure," Rose said softly as she took them back to their original universe and into the Time Vortex. Once they were in temporal orbit, Rose took Clara by the hand and led her to their bedroom. As she retracted her clothing into her necklace, Rose pulled the covers of the bed open and slid naked between the sheets, patting the space next to her.

Clara smiled at her lover before doing exactly the same. There was nothing sexual about it as she crawled into bed and tangled her limbs with Rose. They both let out a content sigh, just enjoying the feeling of holding each other close as Clara rest her head on Rose's shoulder.

"It's been a long few weeks," Clara sighed tiredly.

"It's been a long few years," Rose countered with a slight chuckle.

"That it has," Clara responded wryly.

"What's on your mind, luv?" Rose asked her quietly.

"For once, absolutely nothing," Clara said contentedly as she closed her eyes. "I just want to enjoy this moment, right here, right now, with you in my arms."

Rose began stroking Clara's hair as she replied. "It has been a while since we've just have some peace and quiet, hasn't it?"

"Yes," Clara breathed quietly. "I'm beginning to understand why the Doctor doesn't like to stick around after he's fixed a crisis."

Rose smiled at that. "Yeah, it's a bit draining, I'll give you that. But I don't think it will always be like this. We did just help to jump start the resurgence of our own society, after all."

"Oh, I'm sure you're right," Clara said softly. "I am just glad to be right here, right now, enjoying some alone time with my wife."

"Let's get some rest, then," Rose said with a smirk as she pulled the covers a little tighter around them. "When we wake up, we can really enjoy our alone time."

 **.oOo.**

It was a sweaty, content, yet invigorated couple in love that enjoyed a shower together the next morning before walking towards the kitchen as they instructed their necklaces to create only a simple, basic sundress for each of them. It was a style they were introduced to by Luna and they both loved it as much as the quirky witch had. They made and ate breakfast in comfortable silence, simply enjoying being together. They would occasionally sneak glances at each other as if they were still teenagers experiencing their first love. Something about that thought made them both smile.

"So," Clara began as they left the kitchen and headed towards the console room. "Shall we forget the apple today?"

"Huh?" Rose asked in confusion.

"You know," Clara said with a smirk. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

Rose groaned painfully at the horrible joke. "Remind me never to land us in a comedy club," she said.

"Oi!" Clara responded indignantly, but with a smile on her face.

"Let me scan the timeline and see where a good spot to pop in on him is," Rose said as she walked over to one of the side panels. "Well, that's odd. "It looks like he hasn't left Torchwood for a couple weeks."

"Let's see what's going on then," Clara said as she worked the central console.

 **.oOo.**

"I would really rather not go to the Time Lords about this," the Doctor said seriously.

"Why not?" Jack asked in confusion.

"I acted stupidly. Admittedly, I wasn't entirely sane at the time, but I still should have known better," the Doctor told him solemnly. "There is also something fuzzy with my memory of the time that I just can't figure out."

The sound of a TARDIS materializing brought them out of their thoughts and they turned to look around the control room before spotting the _Wolf Den_ settling into reality.

"Ladies!" Jack said with a huge smile on his face as the girls walked out. He took in their pink and yellow sundresses, content smiles, and oddly shoeless feet before commenting. "You're both looking quite pretty today. What brings you by?"

"And where are your shoes?" the Doctor asked with mild concern.

"They've gone missing," Rose said with a fake pout.

"We suspect Nargles," Clara said while trying to keep a straight face.

"You didn't!?" the Doctor asked in shock, catching on immediately. "What was it like?"

Rose burst out laughing and Clara pouted playfully. "I told you he'd get it right off," Rose said with a victorious smirk.

"We dropped by because it's been a long few years for us and we missed you all," Clara answered Jack's question.

"Years?" Jacked asked with a bit of surprise. "It's only been a couple months for us. What have you been up to?"

"Now that… is an interesting story," Rose said with a smirk as she conjured a comfortable chair to sit down in and pulled Clara down to sit on her lap.

 **.oOo.**

"So, you both hold the rank of Ethereal Lady?" the Doctor asked with a note of pride.

"Technically," Clara said. "And, we are technically members of the High Council, but more as an advisory role. We are like you, Doctor. We can't be in one place for too long. We're wanderers. We consider here and Atlantis as our home bases, so to speak, though."

The Doctor and Jack smiled at that. "So, why did you remove the knowledge of the planetoid hub from the Atlantis database?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, we copied much of the data from that hub into the database anyway," Clara replied. "It's only supposed to be a backup installation for the gate hub functionality of the capitol anyway. With the upgraded nanite tech, they don't even need it for ship building."

"And it's always a good idea to have someplace to fall back to in the case of an emergency," Rose supplied.

"What sort of emergency?" Jack asked curiously.

"Remember that quantum mirror we told you about?" Rose asked.

"What about it?" the Doctor asked in confusion at the sudden change of subject.

"It seems that the Moment only worked in this universe," Rose said seriously.

"No… don't tell me," the Doctor spoke with a heavy sigh. "Daleks?"

"We saw them in a different reality through the mirror," Clara stated.

"We have since destroyed the mirror from all realities that it existed in," Rose said.

"Hopefully that will keep them contained," the Doctor intoned.

"Since that can stay on the back burner for now," Jack started, "there is something a bit more pressing in this universe we could use your help with."

"They can't go either, Captain," the Doctor spoke up again. "No one that I would recognize can."

"Don't you remember what they said?" Jack asked him. "They can morph into any form they want."

"What's going on?" Rose asked in confusion.

The Doctor and Jack stared at each other in a battle of wills for a moment before the Doctor gave another heavy sigh and nodded his head.

"One of the wounds in time," Jack told them. "Was actually caused by the Doctor. It would be a fairly simple matter of going back to stop him, but he's worried that any one that he knows would make the matter worse."

"And my memory of that time is a little bit fuzzy too," the Doctor interjected. "Possibly because of the wound itself, possibly because I was slightly insane at the time, or possibly for some other reason I can't identify."

"So, like Jack says," Clara began. "We morph into different forms you don't recognize."

"Your TARDIS will accept us because she will know us no matter when we meet her and she'll be able to keep who we are from you while also convincing you we are trustworthy," Rose concluded.

"It's from a point between traveling with the pair of you," the Doctor said. "How will the TARDIS be able to recognize Clara if they haven't met yet?"

"She's a twelve dimensional being, Doctor. I learned about her being able to do that back when I was Bad Wolf."

"Huh," was the Doctor's eloquent reply. "I didn't realize she could know people backwards in her own timeline."

 **.oOo.**

"So, this is Mars in the twenty-first century is it?" Clara asked.

"Not much to it right now, I know," Rose replied.

"You realize that if we just keep our helmets on, we won't even need to morph, right?" Clara asked wryly.

"Hmmmm," Rose thought about that. "That actually gives me an idea."

"Hope it's a good one," Clara said as she looked at the monitor. "The Doctor just landed and is walking towards the base."

"Alright, let's go help heal time then," Rose said. In a flash, they were gone.

The Doctor stopped suddenly as two people in black armored space suits appeared in front of him. Their helmets prevented seeing their faces, but from the contours of the armor, it was obvious they were females. Something about this situation didn't seem right with the time.

"Sorry," the Doctor said with false cheer. "Did I come at a bad time? I can come back later if that would be better."

The two figures glanced at each other and then as one, latched onto an arm each and proceeded to drag the Doctor the twenty meters or so back to his TARDIS.

"Oi! I said I was sorry, if you wanted me to leave, all you had to do was ask!"

Neither of them said anything, but through their mental link, they were smiling and chuckling at the Doctor. They release him when they got to the doors of the TARDIS.

The Doctor straightened his space suit a bit when they released him. "Well, at least you didn't try to kill me, so that's a plus at least. Hey, what are you doing?"

The slightly taller of the two was caressing the side of the TARDIS in what could only be described as a loving manner. What really made his eyes bug out was that at moment later, the doors opened by themselves! Then, his two escorts grabbed him by the arms again and dragged him inside and plopped him down in the pilot's seat, while one of them turned the monitor towards him.

As the Doctor removed his helmet he asked, "Okay, what's going on and how did you manage to open the TARDIS?"

"I asked her to open," came the modulated voice of the slightly taller one.

"We're here to mend a wound in time," came the equally modulated voice of the other.

"What wound in time?" the Doctor asked in confusion. "There's no wound in time here, I've seen no reapers." He noticed a slight flinch in the taller one and filed that away. Apparently at least one of them knew what reapers were.

"Check the date, Doctor," the shorter of the two said as she pointed at the monitor.

Deciding to play along, he stood and typed in some commands into the center console. His eyes when wide when the display showed Earth time. November 21, 2059. "No!"

"You almost walked right into a fixed point in time," the taller one said.

"I caused the destruction of Bowie Base One?!" he asked in disbelief.

"No," the shorter one replied. "You did everything in your power to prevent it. The fact is it happened with or without you."

"You did, or would have rather, alter events enough to create a wound in time," the taller one said. "We're here to prevent that."

"We also know how curious you are," the shorter one said as she tapped a few controls and brought up the internal security system of the base on the monitor. "We figured that we could sit here with you to watch what happens. It will satisfy your curiosity and also prevent the wound from occurring."

"Who are you?" the Doctor demanded with a serious expression on his face.

"Time Lords are able to lock away select memories when needed, correct?" the taller one asked sympathetically.

The shorter one snapped her head up to look at her partner. "You aren't considering what I think you are, are you?"

"If he gives us his word to lock away his memory of our identities until the time lines synchronize, why not?" the taller one asked.

"You're from my future?"

"Yes," the taller one said. "And you, Doctor, are the one that taught us just how important it is to maintain timelines which is why we have not identified ourselves."

"I give you my word as the last of the Time Lords," he said with conviction.

"I'm afraid that won't be enough," the taller one said. "Your word on the Bad Wolf is what we require."

The Doctor sucked in a breath, not daring to hope but not able to stop himself either. "You have my word," he said quietly.

His two escorts stood next to each other and nodded. Slowly their helmets began to retract, revealing a head of brown hair on the shorter one, and a gasp inducing head of blonde hair on the taller one. "Rose? How?"

Rose flung herself at the Doctor, pulling him into a tight hug. "Oh, it's so good to finally be able to hug you again!"

"But, if you're here from the future, haven't you hugged me there?" he asked with a manic smile as he returned her hug just as eagerly.

"Different you," Clara said with a fond smile. "And before you ask, no, I never officially met you in this regeneration."

"Officially?" he asked as he and Rose eventually separated.

"Another memory you have locked away until the times lines catch up," she said.

"How many times have you had to come back on my timeline?" he asked in confusion as he looked between his former and apparently future companions.

"Only a handful," Rose said.

"Technically speaking," Clara piped in. "The time I'm talking about wasn't a mission like this. There were three of you."

"Oh," the Doctor winced. "That must have been a headache."

"On the contrary," Clara said with a smirk. "I found it quite amusing."

"You will remember to lock our identities away, won't you doctor?" Rose asked.

"If it's vital to the timeline, of course," he told her. "But, may I ask why it's vital?"

"Before you regenerate, you're going to meet a past version of me that you believe to be Bad Wolf," Rose explained. "It is important that you believe that instead of realizing the information I gave you came from a version of me you would meet again in the future."

"And you need to forget about me," Clara began. "If you were to remember me the several times we first meet, it might change the future and I might never get the chance to meet my lovely wife here," she concluded as she grabbed Rose's hand gently with a smile on her face.

"You're married?" the Doctor asked with only a little bit of shock. "Congratulations!" He swept Rose up in a hug and spun her around before pulling Clara in to make it a group hug.

Rose laughed merrily until they all began to relax a bit. "Well, Clara went to all the trouble of hacking into that base's security monitoring system. Perhaps we should observe and see what happened?"

The Doctor sobered immediately. "Yes. And thank you for stopping me from causing any damage to time. I know I've gotten a little crazy lately."

They sat and watched in a mix of horror and fascination as the events on the base played out. The idea that there were remnants of life on Mars that could take control of people was disturbing to say the least. While they were saddened by the cost of their bravery, they were also proud of them for preventing the spread of this life form back to Earth.

 **.oOo.**

"Doctor," Clara spoke as she and Rose stepped out of the TARDIS and back into the control center of Torchwood. "Your fuzzy memories, they are locked by request. You can unlock them now."

"That was incredibly reckless," he said after he did just that.

"Maybe," Rose said. "But, would you have trusted anyone you didn't know?"

"Fair enough," the Doctor replied with a wry grin.

A beeping sound coming from the girl's wrists stopped conversation for a moment as Clara checked her device. Tapping the controls, a hologram of Sam appeared over it wrist.

"Sam!" Clara exclaimed happily. "It's good to hear from you again, it's been too long."

"How long has it been for you?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Three years," Rose spoke up from next to Clara.

"Wow, it's only been a month since you rescued my dad," Sam said with a bit of awe in her voice.

"Time travel can be a bit confusing at first," Clara said with a slight chuckle.

"Listen," Sam began with a bit of trepidation. "I'm sorry that to bother you again, and even more sorry that there always seems to be some type of crisis when we call…"

"What happened?" Rose interrupted with concern.

"We're not certain," Sam replied. "We're tracking a giant fireball in the sky…"

Clara cut the comms off before turning to look at her friends. "Sorry, but I think we need to cut this trip short I'm afraid."

"Mind if I tag along?" The Doctor asked, causing Jack to smirk. "I've been stuck here for three weeks trying to come up with a way to stop myself from what happened on Mars."

"Sure, come on, we'll see if we can stop you from getting bored," Rose said with a smirk as the three of them piled into the girl's TARDIS.

 **.oOo.**

"Sir," Sam said as she turned to look at the General in shock. "They hung up."

As the sound of the TARDIS materializing interrupted any speculation, Jack piped in with an obvious "I think I know why."

When the TARDIS doors opened, everyone in the control room was surprised to see not the girls step out, but an older looking gentleman with wild grey hair and a suit that would be at home on a magician. "So, what have we got?" the man asked.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" General Hammond asked.

"I'm the Doctor," he responded as if that explained everything. "What's this I hear about a giant fireball falling from the sky?"

"It just entered the atmosphere about twenty seconds ago," Sam replied, understanding this was the mentor of Rose and Clara. "It's nearly one-hundred miles in diameter and seems to be in a controlled descent, but we can't actually get any readings on it. All we can do is track the fireball and smoke trail."

"Then it's not a meteor or other natural phenomenon," he replied as he looked at the screen that was tracking the fireball.

"It's also too large to be a snakehead or Asgard ship," Clara said as she walked out of the TARDIS and came to stand next to the Doctor. "Rose is checking our scanners right now to try to determine what it might be."

"Do we have any idea where it will impact?" the Doctor asked.

"It looks like it's heading just north of the tropics in the Atlantic Ocean," Sam replied.

"Hmmm," Clara said deep in thought before turning only slightly to call out behind her. "Rose, check our cloaking frequencies."

"Already did," Rose replied as she stepped up next to Clara and the Doctor. "It's Atlantis. There is also an Aurora cloaked in orbit."

Clara groaned, the Doctor grinned, SG-1 stared at them in shock, and General Hammond wanted some answers. "Atlantis, as in the lost continent of Atlantis?"

"It's just a city, not a whole continent," Rose replied.

"A _flying_ city?" Jack asked incredulously.

"Jack," Clara said with a hint of exasperation. "We built the stargates. Do you really think we couldn't build a city that's also a space ship?"

"This is from your people?" Hammond asked.

"Our capital city, in fact," Rose admitted.

"We better go and talk to the High Council and see just what the hell they were thinking to bring the city here," Clara said.

"Don't worry, there's no threat to the planet," Rose said as she dragged the Doctor back to the TARDIS behind Clara. "We'll let you know as soon as we know what's going on."

 **.oOo.**

"Good, good," Dumbledore said with a smile as he looked out over the city. "We have settled nicely on the surface of the ocean."

"And every nation on the planet is probably on high alert now," Hermione said crossly.

"That may very well be," Ablus replied. "But, we needed to grab the attention of the entire world for many of the magicals to take our message seriously."

Hermione looked ready to argue further, but stopped suddenly, looking around as if she had sensed someone behind her. A moment later, a wheezing, groaning sound began building.

When the TARDIS had finished materializing, Rose and Clara stepped out with an older looking man and simply stared at the members of the council that were milling about the control room. The man seemed to be completely enjoying the situation but Rose and Clara looked a bit annoyed.

"Well?" Clara asked.

"Good afternoon, Ladies. What brings you by?" Albus asked totally unconcernedly.

"A call from the United States Government agency tasked with defending the planet from alien attack is what brought us by," Clara said with exasperation in her voice.

"Really?" Dumbledore said, his smile only dropping slightly. "That does sound serious."

"Were you _trying_ to put the entire planet on alert?" Rose asked in annoyance, though there was a hint of humor in her voice.

"I told him that would happen!" Hermione shrieked.

"That was sort of the plan though, Hermione," Harry said as he walked in the room. "I raised the shield and double checked the cloak before locking the chair temporarily to council level access only."

"You _wanted_ to grab the world's attention?" the Doctor asked with great amusement. "I think you've done a spectacular job of it."

"Thank you," Dumbledore said. "And, who might you be?"

"I'm the Doctor," he replied. "Wonderful to meet you all. Truly marvelous. Sorry about your recent civil war but I'm glad to hear you're moving forward now."

"The comm units have been transported," Luna said from the terminal she was sitting at.

"Already?" Rose asked in surprise.

"A lot has happened in the weeks you've been away," Elizabeth said as she walked into the control room from her City Administrator office.

"Indeed," Dumbledore said. "After seeing Atlantis and the planet on which it did and will reside, the ICW by rare, unanimous vote, agreed to call a world wide magical holiday, under the pretense of celebrating the fall of Voldemort. Though, in truth, it is so that they can all hear our story."

"We should have made him a Marauder, Moony," Sirius said from his place at the communications console. "I just got word from Amelia. The news of the fireball is even spreading rapidly across the statute. She expects everyone to be ready to hear the message within the next hour or two."

"You're really doing this?" Clara asked with some surprise. "I expected this to take a couple years at least."

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "So, did I, to be perfectly honest. However, the ICW, which I remind you is a sizeable representation of witches and wizards by itself, were all, how did you put it, Lady Hermione?"

"They were frothing at the mouth to be free of the statute of secrecy," Hermione said resignedly. "They would have listened anyway, we didn't need to make such an entrance."

"Perhaps," Remus agreed. "But you have to admit, Hermione, the news of the giant fireball in the sky combined with the appearance of the promised communication devices will ensure maximum exposure and desire to know what's happening."

"Did you at least take the…" Rose started before being interrupted.

"We have an incoming wormhole," Elizabeth said with a note of shock in her voice.

"Raise the shield!" Clara shouted as she ran over to the gate controls while Rose went to the gate itself. As the shield activated, she shouted over to her wife. "Rose, you'll have about five seconds after the event horizon forms."

"Got it," Rose said as she began gathering purple energy in her palms.

"What is she doing?" Hermione asked in concern.

"I'll explain in a minute," Clara said quickly. "Doctor! Please get ready to catch Rose! This is probably going to knock her out."

"On it," he said seriously as he went to help his friend.

"What is happening?" Elizabeth asked.

"Watch and learn," Clara said as the gate finished connecting and the puddle formed. "Rose, NOW!"

Rose's eyes flared purple as the orbs of brilliant purple energy in her palms almost seemed to become solid and she slammed both her open palms into the side of the gate, forcing the purple energy directly into the gate itself. This had two effects. The first thing they all saw was the event horizon flicker out of existence. The second was that Rose collapsed into a heap in the Doctor's arms. As soon as Clara saw the Doctor had Rose, she began furiously tapping away at the gate controls for several minutes while everyone stared at her in shock. When she finally stopped, she sat down with a heavy sigh.

"The stargate is offline and locked down," she informed them tiredly.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"My guess is that one of the off-world SG teams tried to dial back to the SGC," Clara stated seriously. "The problem is that the stargates were designed in such a way as any one planetary body, while able to have multiple outbound gates, for security reasons, one would always be designated as the only inbound gate. With Atlantis being here with a newer model gate as well as being the general hub of the gate networks, it became the primary gate."

"So, the SG team would have come through here?" Hermione asked, catching on before the others. "What did Rose do then?"

"She sent a deliberate overload into the gate control circuits," Clara responded looking very tired from having lent a considerable amount of power to Rose without physical contact. "A safety protocol of the gates is that if there is an overload or other type of malfunction at the destination, the wormhole will jump to the nearest available gate. In this case, back to the SGC."

"That's actually a good idea," the Doctor said as he walked out of the TARDIS. "But, I think we should get you to bed, Clara. You look like you're about to collapse as well."

"I somehow managed to feed Rose extra power without physical contact," Clara said as she stood up. She swayed a little and then collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Thankfully, Hermione was close enough to catch her and hand her over to the Doctor.

"I'll just get her put to bed and then we can get to know each other," the Doctor said with a bit of a smile on his face before carrying Clara into the TARDIS.

 **.oOo.**

"That sounds terrifying," Hermione said after the Doctor explained Time Lords and Torchwood to the High Council. "The thought of weaponized time travel almost destroying a universe with paradoxes, I can hardly wrap my brain around it."

"I wouldn't even bother trying to grasp it," the Doctor replied with an understanding nod. "Even for my people evolving with a special connection to the Time Vortex, it's difficult to make sense of."

"It is a noble thing you do," Dumbledore said. "To help an entire universe to heal like that; if you need our help, you can call on us."

"Hopefully that will not be necessary," the Doctor replied. "But, thank you for the offer."

"Doctor," Luna suddenly spoke with a sob and tears welling up in her eyes. "You must not try to enter her mind!"

Everyone was looking at Luna in concern waiting for her to elaborate when they heard a blood curdling scream emanate from the open doors of the TARDIS. Whipping around in shock to look for the source, the Doctor took off at full sprint into the TARDIS following the sound of the screams to Rose and Clara's bedroom. What he found upon opening the door broke his hearts. Clara was screaming uncontrollably in her sleep and Rose was trying desperately to wake her.

"Something's wrong," Rose sobbed. "I can't wake her! I can't reach her at all. Her mind is completely closed off, like it's not even there!"

Transparent waves started to radiate off the sleeping girl, making her look like a mirage in the desert. "Rose! Come over here!" the Doctor said desperately.

"I'm not leaving her, Doctor," Rose practically growled.

"Rose," he said in a softer voice that could barely be heard over the screams. "If I had to guess, I would think she's about to regenerate. You can't touch her during that process. It would kill you!"

"She's not regenerating," Rose said with panic in her voice. "We've both regenerated once already as part of our time in the Nexus, it's nothing like this."

"Then we should get her to the zero room until we can figure out what's wrong," he told her carefully.

"Where is the zero room?" Hermione asked as she reached out with the Force to levitate the screaming girl… only to fail. "What? I can't use the Force to move her? How is that possible?"

"Rose said that her mind was closed off," Elizabeth spoke up. "It's possible that she's entirely closed off from the Force as well."

"Mobilicorpus," Hermione cast, even pulling her saber to channel through the crystal within, only for that to fail too. "Neither the Force nor Magic work," Hermione said with shock.

Rose lifted her wife into her arms and winced at the heat coming off her love but held firm as she carried her out of the room and down the hall. Thankfully, the TARDIS had moved the zero room closer to make the trip as short as possible.

As soon as Rose, carrying Clara, entered the zero room, they began to float gently toward the center of the empty space. Thankfully, Clara's screams stopped once they reached the center, as did the heat radiating from her. When Rose released her wife, she pulled her arms back revealing some minor burns. It took a moment for her to heal the burns with her morphing ability, but when she did, she looked at the Doctor in confusion.

"I don't know what might be wrong with her if not regeneration, I'm sorry."

"She's trapped in her own mind," Luna said sadly.

"I know," Rose said with a tear streaking down her cheek. "I can sense her now, but I can't actually get through her mind shield."

"Come on, Rose," the Doctor said. "We should get you checked out to make sure you haven't suffered any lasting physical damage."

"No," she replied. "I'm staying right here until she gets better."

"Rose, you can't," the Doctor tried to say. His words fell on deaf ears though as the door to the zero room slid shut in front of him.

 **.oOo.**

Walter was sitting at the console running post mission checks to ensure the stargate was secure now that the team was back. He was still stunned at how much had happened over the course of the last two days. They went from tracking a potentially dangerous fireball in the sky, to trying to save the apprentice of Bratac, to mounting a rescue operation, only for it all the de-escalate. He was brought out of his thoughts by a beeping on another terminal. Pressing the accept button, he was surprised to see a small hologram of an older man at the communications station.

"Oh, hello," the man said. "I need to speak with your Doctor Jackson, please."

"I'm sorry, but, who are you?" Walter asked in confusion.

"I guess you weren't in the room when I showed up with Rose and Clara yesterday?"

"No, I was on the horn with NASA when I heard them land," Walter said realizing this was likely to be rather urgent. "I'll go get him for you."

Running up the stairs into the conference room, Walter saw that SG-1 along with Bratac were still debriefing. "Sorry to interrupt, sir, but we just got a call on the com terminal. He said he needs to speak with Doctor Jackson and that he showed up recently with Rose and Clara."

He was surprised to see everyone, even the General, scramble to their feet and make their way down to the control room. When they arrived, Daniel spoke up.

"Doctor," he said with some concern. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm afraid not," the Doctor responded. "There is no threat to Earth," he assured them before anyone could panic. "Rose and Clara will be unavailable for an indeterminate length of time, however. I thought you should know that you are safe but it might be some time before they will be available."

"What's wrong?" Daniel and Sam asked at the same time.

"Honestly," the Doctor said with a heavy sigh. "We don't know. The nearest I can tell based on observation is that Clara is in a Level One coma and Rose will not leave her side."

"What happened?" Sam asked in shock.

"We really don't know," the Doctor said. "She was screaming, and then shimmering like a mirage, and then just before we got her stabilized, it almost looked like she was glowing white hot. Rose had to heal burns on her arms from carrying her."

"Sir," Sam said as she turned to the General. "Permission to…" Whatever she was going to ask permission for was lost as both she and Daniel were transported away in a flash of light.

"Luna!" they heard a man shriek through the hologram of the Doctor. "You can't just transport people away like that!"

"Harry, Luna, what's going on?" the Doctor asked as he turned around but kept the hologram active.

"They need to be here," Luna said to the Doctor.

The Doctor turned back to the holographic imaging unit and spoke to the SGC again. "Sorry about that," he told them. "Don't worry, your people are safe. We will return them to you as soon as we can get them away from our resident seer."

When the connection cut off, the Colonel turned to General Hamond who was about to start issuing orders and spoke first. "Sir, if I may?" Jack asked.

"Colonel?" Hamond asked in confusion at being interrupted by his second in command.

"With all that Rose and Clara have done to help us," Jack started, gesturing around at all of the control room tech that was way beyond them. "If there is anyone from this base that would have any idea how to understand what's happening with Clara, let alone have a chance at helping, it would be Daniel and Carter, sir."

The General seemed to think about that for a moment before deflating a bit. "I see your point, Colonel. Hopefully, this can be resolved soon."

 **.oOo.**

"…join the Doctor…" Sam trailed off as she realized she had been transported mid-sentence.

"Luna! You can't just transport people away like that!" Sam and Daniel heard from nearby, causing them to turn and look around.

"They need to be here," a young woman, presumably Luna, said. They heard the Doctor end the call to the SGC as they continued looking around the strange place they were in.

"Terribly sorry about that," the Doctor said to Sam and Daniel as he approached them.

"It was you!" Luna said as she marched up to the pair and stared Daniel in the eyes.

"Um… what was me?" Daniel asked in confusion as he took a single step back from the surprisingly intimidating small woman.

"You were the one I saw in my vision," Luna said. "You started to believe in yourself, but then you deluded yourself into disbelieving! Then, just now, your mind screamed out to be here," Luna concluded.

"Luna," Ron said gently as he approached her. "We need to send them back. You just kidnapped them basically."

While Ron was speaking though, Daniel stared at Luna in shock. He wondered what she was talking about because she couldn't possibly be talking about the mission they just came back from, which was the only thing that seemed to make sense.

"You had a vision?" Sam asked skeptically.

"Of me?!" Daniel asked in shock.

"You can help Clara," Luna said in an almost accusing way. "You understand the _nature_ of it all, of what's happening to her." As if her body had been waiting for those words as a trigger, Luna's eyes flared briefly with a bright white, silvery energy, and she collapsed.

"What the hell is going on around here?" Ron asked as he caught Luna's limp form.

"I'd like the know the answer to that too," Hermione spoke up from next to Harry. "First Rose, then Clara, and now Luna."

"What did she think that Daniel could help with that you all seem to be stumped with?" Sam asked out of concern for her friend.

"You're not Ancients, are you?" Daniel asked after a moment of thought.

"Those of us on the council are," Harry told him. "And those in orbit are as well, but, the rest are only part Ancient at the moment," he admitted openly.

"What would that have to do with anything?" Hermione asked with a confused frown.

"Take me to Clara," Daniel said, bypassing the question for now.

"It won't do any good," the Doctor said as he led them all into the TARDIS and down the halls toward the zero room. "Rose sealed the door and refuses to come out until Clara is better."

"How long have they been sealed away?" Sam asked curiously.

"Almost a day now," Harry replied.

"How does this zero room thing work?" Daniel asked the Doctor.

"A TARDIS is basically its own little universe," he replied. "It has a special ability to connect to our universe though and make its portal between universes disappear and reappear somewhere or somewhen else. The zero room, wherever it appears in a TARDIS, is actually the exact center of the universe that makes up the TARDIS. The zero room has its own unique ability to completely seal itself off as a tiny pocket universe within the pocket universe that is the TARDIS itself. When that happens, the room and all within it are completely cut off from the TARDIS universe and the host universe. It is surprisingly great for healing and meditation, but the exact sub-quantum physics are too difficult to explain."

"So, it's a bubble within a bubble attached to the outside of another bubble?" Sam asked. "That would explain the incredible spatial transference we experience when entering the TARDIS."

"A somewhat simple but brilliant deduction all the same," the Doctor said as they arrived at the sealed door of the zero room. "Well done."

"They are in there?" Daniel asked with a nod at what looked like solid wall that had a door frame attached to it.

"Yes," the Doctor replied.

Daniel reached out and placed his hand flat on the wall, closing his eyes and trying to remember what he learned while on Kheb. Hoping the little blonde that had transported them was right, he began to breathe deeply.

"Daniel? What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"Trusting myself," he replied between breaths.

After several minutes of everyone nervously staring in silence, a golden glow appeared within the door frame. Another moment passed and the door slid open quietly to reveal a sleeping Rose floating in midair and wrapped protectively around her comatose wife. Both had a barely visible sheen of white energy seemingly attached to every bit of their skin… an energy Daniel recognized instantly.

"Oma," Daniel said quietly. "What have you done?"

"Oma?" Sam asked incredulously. "The alien that you told us about on Kheb?"

"I don't think she's as alien as I initially believed," he replied, almost to himself.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked.

Sam looked like she was about to explain, but Daniel cut her off. "We'll explain it later," he said. He walked over to the floating girls and was surprised not to end up floating himself. Taking a deep breath, he placed his palms on each of them, right on the forehead. Instantly, the faint white sheen around them intensified before it suddenly changed to red, and then gold, and then purple, and then back to white.

The aura of energy surrounding the girls began to cycle through those colors, growing more rapid with each passing second. As Daniel closed his eyes to focus, the energy exploded outward to cover him as well, creating a nimbus of cycling energy around them.

Just as suddenly, their eyes flew open and Clara let out a horrific scream that startled all the onlookers in the doorway. Barely a moment later, however, Clara's scream settled into a heart wrenching sob. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Harry, thinking that Daniel was hurting them, tried to intervene. He stepped through the doorway only to be thrown back out by a blast of energy, causing him to slump shakily against the wall on the other side of the hall.

"What the hell was that?" Hermione asked as she ran over to help Harry to his feet.

"You can't have her!" they all heard from Clara causing them to turn and look back into the room again. "I won't let you take her!"

"It's okay, luv," they heard Rose respond. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Rose?" Clara asked in disbelief, her eyes glazed, not really seeing anything.

"I'm here," Rose replied soothingly. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I won't let it take you!" Clara said in a panic.

"Shh, shh, shh," came from Rose as she held on to Clara.

A moment later, Clara went limp in Rose's arms and the glow completely faded from around all three of them as Daniel let out sigh of relief.

"Daniel?" Rose asked in exhaustion. "When did you get here?"

"Just a little while ago," Daniel replied. "Clara is asleep now and you should be too."

"That sounds like a good idea," Rose said tiredly as she closed her eyes.

As Daniel turned to leave the room where the girls were now floating in a much more peaceful sleep, he saw everyone staring at him with varying degrees of shock. "Umm…"

"Daniel?" Sam asked softly. "What just happened?"

"I think…" he started, trying to find the right words. "I think I cured them."

"I thought it was only Clara that was in a coma?" Sam asked in confusion.

"Something was done to both of them," Daniel replied. "I can't really describe it but I'm also really tired. I think I need to rest."

"Come," Elizabeth said now that she regained her wits. "We'll get you set up in some guest quarters for the time being. Hopefully Rose and Clara will be able to join us later to figure out just what's going on."

 **.oOo.**

The following morning, quite early in fact, just after the sun rose, the Doctor, Sam, and Daniel met with the High Council in a conference room. Everyone but Rose and Clara were present.

"Can someone please explain what exactly is going on?" Hermione asked with a slightly accusing tone in her voice. She did not like being out of the loop.

"Daniel saved Rose and Clara," Luna spoke up, but with a decidedly less dreamy note in her voice than usual.

"How exactly did you do that, Daniel?" Sam asked curiously.

"The vision she described," Daniel began with a gesture towards Luna, "sounded very much like what happened on Kheb. And the white light that was radiating from them when I opened the door, it reminded me of Oma."

"But, I thought she was an ally, or neutral at least, not an enemy," Sam said. "Why would she be attacking Rose and Clara?"

"I don't think she was attacking them," he said. "I think she was trying to protect them."

"From what?" Harry asked.

"From one of the others," came a tired voice from the doorway, causing everyone to turn and look at the pair holding each other up.

"If you're still this tired and weak, you should still be resting," the Doctor said with a concerned tone as he helped them to a sofa that Hermione conjured for them.

"What we need will come soon enough," Clara said mysteriously. "Daniel, thank you for breaking me out of that nightmare."

"Is that what it was?" he asked, not understanding.

"I was trapped in my own mind, surrounded by all my worst fears playing out before me and a menacing laugh taunting me," she replied with tears streaking down her face. "The voice was demanding that I ascend or they would kill Rose."

"Somnum exterreri," Dumbledore said in quiet terror. "Who would dare use such a curse?"

"Curse?" Sam asked in confusion.

"It has mostly been lost in history," Albus said a little more strongly this time. "Just as Lady Clara described, it traps a person in their own mind, but there was never a way discovered to wake a person from their terror. It was eventually outlawed and thankfully, lost to time, or so I thought."

"How is it that you know of it then?" Daniel asked curiously.

"I, like Rose and Clara here, am much older than I usually look. When I was a child, it was told as a tale to frighten children into behaving. Like many things tend to do through the passage of time, it fell out of fashion and faded from common memory."

"Why would the voice demand that you ascend?" the Doctor asked.

"What exactly does it mean to ascend as you're calling it?" Sam asked.

"Oma," Daniel said suddenly. "She is an ascended being, isn't she?"

"That is correct, Daniel," came a voice from a cloud of brilliant white energy that suddenly appeared in the room and slowly coalesced into the form of a simple yet regal looking woman. "Ascension is the process by which an Ancient, or any other with the proper spiritual or evolutionary development, can become a being like myself."

"Everyone," Daniel said with a playful mix of awe and mischief. "This is Oma Desala."

"Mother Nature?" the Doctor asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"In much the same way you are The Doctor," Oma replied enigmatically.

"Oma, do you know what happened with our friends here?" Daniel asked. "Is that why you're here?"

"Yes," she replied. "Normally we, the ascended that is, do not interfere in the lower planes. This is not a normal situation, however."

"Do you know who attacked my wife?" Rose asked, looking stronger than she had since she entered the conference room.

"I do," Oma responded. "It is why I have been allowed to contact you openly like this. One of our number began to fear the power the pair of you are growing into. He was under the mistaken belief that if he forced one of you to ascend, you would be bound by our laws."

"And that gave him the right to attack me and threaten to kill Rose?" Clara nearly snarled.

"No," Oma said truthfully. "That is why I am here, to inform you that he has been apprehended and punished most severely."

"You killed him?" Elizabeth asked in shock.

"No. We descended him and wiped his memory and left him on a sparsely populated world. He is as mortal as any other human now, however."

"Whoa, that was fast," Sam commented.

"That's not the only reason you're here though, is it?" Daniel asked.

"Perceptive as always," Oma said with a kind smile. "No, I came also to meet the Doctor."

"Me?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"When it was discovered that you were in this universe, I wanted to meet you for myself."

"Why me?"

"It may have occurred in your universe, but it is not unknown to us that it was your actions, and the actions of those you've inspired, that saved the entirety of the multiverse, Doctor."

The Doctor groaned as Rose and Clara smirked at him.

"And now your greatest apprentices have taken up the task of righting some of the wrongs that my people left behind when we shed our mortal forms," Oma continued with a glance at Rose and Clara, causing them to go wide eyed in shock.

"You must be wary," Oma spoke again, this time in a very serious tone. "While my kind are fundamentally bound to this universe, we can still sense something stirring in the dark of the void."

"What sort of stirring?" Rose asked.

"We cannot be certain," Oma replied. "We are those who stayed behind. Perhaps if you visit the nexus again and speak with the Eternals, they will know more."

"Thank you for the warning," Clara said.

"You are welcome. Please do not get used to it, though. This was a very special exception to our non-interference policy. I do not expect we will see each other again anytime soon." With that said, Oma began to glow brightly.

"Wait!" Daniel called out before she could turn completely into a cloud of energy. "Oma, before you go, I have to know. The child, is he safe?"

She smiled at him. "Yes, Daniel. He is safe and well." A moment later, she rose as a cloud of bright white energy and disappeared.

 **.oOo.**

"You're sure you won't stay a little bit longer?" Hermione asked as she hugged Rose and Clara goodbye.

"We will still visit," Rose said with a chuckle. "There is still much to do, however, and you have an entire civilization to get settled on to new worlds."

As the mysterious black box began to disappear, Harry walked over to stand next to Hermione, watching it fade from existence, when he spoke up. "Did I hear that right?" he asked his friend in confusion. "Did she say worlds, plural?"

Hermione let out a groan as she scrubbed her palm down the front of her face. "How on Earth did I miss that? What do you think she meant?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted with a chuckle. "But I'm sure it will be another grand adventure, whatever she meant."

 **.oOo.**


	19. Chapter 19: Wait What?

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1 for disclaimer.

 **A/N:** Something I haven't mentioned before is that I have a really bizarre issue, ability, whatever, called Synesthesia. Because of this, while I can see and feel the ideas of the experience I call the nexus, the English language, indeed any language, I suspect, is incapable of truly capturing what the nexus is. It is far deeper and more complex than even the "abstract space" where Bad Wolf stitched the Impossible Girl back together, and that was weird enough to write lol. This is the reason I have and will continue to not actually show the parts of the story that occur "off-camera" so to speak, in the nexus. If I ever do, it will be a mere snippet, like that of a memory, or dream, like a brief flashback. The closest I could probably come to possibly pretending to describe the nexus, would be to say it's like a really bizarre combination of the movies "What Dreams May Come" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Hope you're all ready to have your minds stupidly blown out by some simple wish fulfillment. Let's just say that all the tech and abilities developed by Rose and Clara so far have only had two real purposes. One was to test some ideas I have for an original story I am working on, and the other was so that some _other_ characters could have that stuff.

SPOILER ALERT: I recently saw what has become my new all-time favorite movie. That movie was Captain Marvel. Never been a fan of comics in general, but I LOVE the movies of the MCU. Not sure just how much that will affect the story, but it's sure to have at least a slight effect on it. And now, on to the crack… I mean… story.

 ** _Chapter 19: Wait. What?_**

"Are you ready for another trip to the nexus, Luv?" Clara asked as they dematerialized from Torchwood, having dropped the Doctor off.

"Not even remotely," Rose admitted as she weakly slumped into the large pilot's seat.

"Rose?" Clara asked with a concerned look on her face as she approached and sat down beside her. "Rose, what is it?"

"Do you think we've lost our way?" Rose asked listlessly. "Have we gone too far? Crossed some line we didn't even see?" With her voice growing weaker with each word, Rose finally burst into quiet tears as she curled into herself.

Clara watched in shock for a moment, stunned at this line of thinking from the love of her life as she seemed to breakdown right before her eyes. A muffled whimper pulled Clara from her thoughts and she instinctively pulled Rose to her, wrapping herself around her as much as she could as she just let her cry, all the while feeling the waves of emotions crash out of the weeping girl in her arms.

"No, you haven't," a vaguely familiar voice spoke, startling both of them and causing them to spring up from the pilot's seat, searching for any threats. "Calm yourselves," the voice continued as a purple cloud of energy with a fluctuating rainbow of other colors lining the edge drifted out of the central rotor and began to take shape.

"Janus?" Clara asked in disbelief. "What's going on?"

"You must return to the Nexus," he stated with a slight trace of urgency in his voice.

"Why?" Rose asked now that she got herself back under control. "You just said we've not gone too far. We were told that we wouldn't be forced back unless we were facing an inquiry."

"You're not being forced back," Janus said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I've been sent to… strongly suggest that you return, post-haste."

"What happened?" Clara asked, assuming the worst.

"The watchers saw what was done to you by Tyrus and how Oma saved you," he replied seriously. "After some debate, the Council has decided, unanimously I might add, to remove that threat, permanently."

"You're going to kill him?" Clara and Rose asked as one in shock.

"Why?" Clara continued. "Oma said he's already been descended and his mind wiped."

"We're not killing him, he's already been punished as you have been told," Janus said before the twinkle returned to his eyes. "As I said, we are removing the _threat_."

"And he wasn't the threat," Rose half asked and half stated, starting to understand what Janus was telling them.

"Exactly," he replied with a small smirk. "While we don't anticipate something like that happening again, we also didn't anticipate it happening the first time. We are going to remove the threat of ascension."

"How?" Clara asked with widening eyes. "How is that even possible?"

"You remember your lessons on the levels of ascension?" he asked, getting two stunned nods in return. "To remove the threat of any _other_ ascended beings in your future, _we_ are going to ascend you, but let you keep going about your normal lives."

 **.oOo.**

Energy. Two clouds of formless, boundless, swirling energy floated gently through the vastness of space near a breathtaking nebula. Slowly, the two clouds of rainbow-lined purple energy drifted toward each other. As the multi-colored lining of the energies touched, they joined together, merging into each other. The energy swirled faster and flared brightly, pulsing in a way that was reminiscent of a heart beating. After what felt like hours, the swirling came to a sudden halt, the combined energy surged so bright that it appeared as an explosion, sending a small shockwave through space as the energy suddenly vanished.

Rose and Clara appeared in a flash of light in the console room of their TARDIS. Panting for breath and with a faint sheen of purple energy still dancing across their skin, they stared at each other. Drawing close to one another, they kissed slowly, pouring every ounce of love they felt for each other into the kiss, before eventually pulling away.

"I love you," Clara said, still out of breath as she rested her forehead gently against that of her wife's.

"I love you," Rose responded in the same state while pulling Clara into a tight embrace.

 **.oOo.**

General Hammond was sitting at his desk rereading through the mission briefing that currently had his best team off-world. Jack and Teal'c now knew the Ancient's language almost as well as Daniel did, but he felt like there was something he was missing. All attempts to contact allies had failed, even the attempt to contact the mysterious Rose and Clara. He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on his office door.

"Enter," Hammond called out.

When the door opened, in walked a dark-skinned bald man wearing all black, including a long black coat. What really stood out about this man, however, was the eye patch over his left eye. This man was clearly not active military, yet walked with an air of a veteran about him.

"General Hammond?" the man asked.

"Yes?" Hammond questioned back as he closed the mission file on his desk.

"I'm Director Fury, from S.H.I.E.L.D." Fury replied as he pulled out his identification and handed it over to the General for inspection. "Our agency was recently briefed on the existence of Star Gate Command. I have a few questions for you if you have a few moments."

"Take a seat," Hammond replied as he handed Fury back his credentials. "What can I do for you?"

As Fury sat in the offered chair, he got right down to business. "What can you tell me about the Ancients?"

 **.oOo.**

"We're back," Rose said as she landed the TARDIS. "I brought us back to our moon, thought we could do with a bit of a break."

Clara smiled a mischievous smile and opened her mouth to respond when she was interrupted by the cloister bell clanging throughout the ship. "What's going on?" she asked, back to being fully serious.

"How is that even _remotely_ possible?!" Rose nearly shrieked.

"What is it?" Clara asked as she walked over next to Rose to take a look at the scanners.

"This portion of the galaxy," Rose said, pointing at the map on the screen, "is time-locked."

"Time locked?" Clara asked in surprise. "That can't be right, there aren't any Time Lords in this universe and there is no way that the High Council would do something like that. Atlantis should be back in the Pegasus galaxy by now."

"It is," Rose replied as she walked over to one of the specialized communications consoles. After a few moments at the controls, a hologram appeared in the console room.

"Lady Weir," Rose said with a bow of her head.

"Rose, Clara, this is a surprise. How are you?" Elizabeth replied.

"We are well," Clara replied. "I'm sorry to say this isn't a social call."

"Has something happened?" Elizabeth asked with some concern.

"Do you know anything about the Orion arm of the Milky Way being time-locked?" Rose asked, already suspecting the answer.

"Time locked?" Weir asked in surprise. "No, we haven't heard anything about that. We've been back on Lantea for about a week."

"Only a week?" Clara asked in equal surprise as she walked back over to the scanner. "These readings suggest the time lock has been in place for nearly four months."

"That would have been fairly soon after we left then," Weir replied with a nod.

"It took you almost four months to get back?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There was a malfunction with the wormhole drive," Elizabeth explained seriously. "We overshot Pegasus by six galaxies. We decided to make the trip back using FTL instead, to gather as much information as we could about the galaxies we passed through. We didn't want to risk a worse malfunction on the Wormhole Drive."

"Good thinking," Clara said with a smile. "We'll want to get a copy of that information from you after we've got this figured out."

"We're still going over it ourselves," Weir replied. "We'll have a copy of it and our findings thus far ready as soon as you are."

"Thanks," Rose said. "We'll be in touch soon, hopefully," she finished as she turned off the hologram.

"Earth is within that area," Clara said. "Shall we try there to see if we can figure out what's going on?"

"Already working on it," Rose replied as she pulled the dematerialization lever on the main console. The cloister bell rang out again as the TARDIS shuddered violently.

"It's just like when we tried to land at Hogwarts," Clara said.

"Well, if we can't get thru the time lock," Rose said with a determined glint in her eyes as she turned around to face the console for the void engines. "We'll just have to go around it."

 **.oOo.**

Agent Fury was on the phone to S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ trying to get a pilot out there to fly the experimental quad jet to one of their facilities to reverse engineer it, when he heard a strange sound from around the other side of the craft. After hanging up, he walked around the side of the jet thinking that Carol might be back for some reason, only to stop dead in his tracks. There, next to the jet, was a black and purple box that hadn't been there before. When the doors started to open on the strange box, Fury ducked around behind the jet and drew his gun, waiting to see if this new arrival was hostile.

"Well, it's definitely Earth," a blonde girl spoke to her brunette companion. "It's just not Colorado."

"We're also way too early," the darker haired girl replied. "It was supposed to be months, not years."

A confused look spread across Fury's face. Years instead of months? Shouldn't that mean way too late instead of early?

"Well, something happened here," the blonde replied. "The cosmic energy readings are off the charts, but fading fast too."

"So, we just missed whatever it was?" the brunette queried. "Why would she send us here and now then?"

'She?' Fury thought to himself. 'Did Carol send them here? No, they sound like they are confused about being here.' He was just about to step into view to ask some questions when the blonde spoke up again.

"We can worry about that later," she said as they stepped back toward the black box. "We're inside the lock area now. We can just jump forward to find out…"

What they would find out was cut off as the doors of the box closed and it started making that strange wheezing and groaning sound again. Peaking around the jet with his uninjured eye, Fury watched in surprise as the strange black and purple box faded from view and disappeared completely, taking the strange sound with it.

 **.oOo.**

"So, you have no idea where these people took their flying city?" Director Fury asked the General after he wrapped up his story about their recent interactions with the Ancients.

"Not until they make contact with us again," Hammond replied with a frown. "We've been trying to contact many of our allies today only to get no response."

"Do you think it's somehow related to this… time loop that you told me about?" Fury asked with a healthy dose of skepticism.

"I didn't believe it at first either," Hammond replied with a chuckle. "Still, there is nothing else that could explain…" Hammond cut off at this point as he heard a sound building in the briefing room outside his office.

Three things happened simultaneously a moment later. There was a knock on the door leading to the briefing room, Fury pulled a gun from inside his jacket, and Hammond smiled as he called out "Come in, Ladies."

When the door opened, Rose and Clara stopped in their tracks and immediately formed a translucent shield around themselves upon seeing a stranger with a gun drawn.

"Is there a problem here, General?" Rose asked as Clara reached out a hand and called the gun to herself, right out of the hand of a surprised Director Fury.

"You!" Fury said, the surprise on his face matched by his voice.

"Not that I'm aware of," Hammond replied with a frown at the Director.

"How the hell did you find me again?" Fury asked in a commanding tone.

Rose and Clara looked at each other, communicating silently, before dropping the shield. Clara removed the magazine from the gun and placed them both on the General's desk as Rose spoke to the stranger.

"We can travel in time," Rose told him bluntly. "So, if you've already met us, it might not be a wise idea to tell us too much about our own future."

"Time… travel," Fury replied in shock as something suddenly clicked into place in his mind. "So THAT'S why years instead of months was early instead of late!"

"We just came from there," Clara said with a note of surprise in her voice. "We didn't see you or anyone else there, however."

"I was at the back of the jet," Fury replied as he regained his composure. "I wasn't sure if you were friendly or hostile since you appeared out of nowhere."

"Now that that's out of the way," Hammond said with full command authority in his voice, "can someone explain to me what just happened?"

"General," Rose started. "This region of the galaxy is currently in a time lock, repeating a set period of time over and over again until the lock can be broken."

"We couldn't even break thru the lock with the TARDIS," Clara picked up. "So, we had to go to a point in time within the affected area, but before the time lock started so that we could travel forward to now, to find out what's going on."

"This man," Rose concluded, "must have been near the landing zone to hear that particular conversation between Clara and myself."

"Sorry," Fury stated. "This is just a lot to take in, and that's saying something considering when I first saw you. I'm Director Fury, from S.H.I.E.L.D. I came here today to speak to General Hammond, after being read in on the SGC, about some potential allies, out there," he said as he pointed up.

"I'm Rose and this is my wife, Clara," Rose told him. "We can discuss that at another time," she continued before turning back to Hammond. "General, do you have an idea of what's happening?"

"I was just going over the mission briefing," he replied while handing over the folder to the girls. "If Col. O'Neill is right, we have less than an hour before the loop resets again."

Both the girls sped thru the file at a rapid pace with growing looks of horror. "Shit!" Rose nearly shouted as she dropped the file back to the General's desk. She and Clara immediately shifted to their new energy forms and shot out of the office and down into the gate room where Clara caused the stargate to flare to life without the usual vortex of energy. A moment later, they were both gone and the wormhole shut down before anyone really knew what was happening.

 **.oOo.**

Daniel had just finished explaining to the distraught Malachi that the time machine he was trying to get working never worked, when Sam heard the gate activate behind them. Thinking it was just the machine starting up, they didn't even turn around to look as she picked up where Daniel and Teal'c left off.

"This device activates fourteen different stargates simultaneously," Sam told the man. "That's fourteen worlds reliving the same day over and over."

"It's worse than that," Rose said as her form and Clara's suddenly became visible and solid again.

"Through those fourteen gates," Clara picked up, "this device creates an energy field that keeps this region of space trapped in a time lock."

"This region of the galaxy is almost four months out of sync from the rest of the galaxy," Rose told them. "What you don't realize is that each time that happens, the rest of this galaxy's stargate network activates in a subtler way, barely able to keep the affected region gravitationally attached to the rest of the galaxy."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked in surprise at their sudden appearance as well as this new information.

"The galaxy isn't stationary," Clara pointed out. "It, too, is hurtling thru space and time. With that time lock forcing this one region to repeat over and over, if the rest of the gate network was not essentially dragging the time-locked area with it, this region would get left behind as the rest of the galaxy moved away from it."

"One of the reasons our ancestors shut this project down was because they discovered the rest of the network could only hold that strain for roughly a year," Rose concluded somberly.

"Wait. You mean to tell us that if this kept going for over a year, part of the galaxy would be ripped apart?" Jack asked in shock as power started building in the device and the panels on the control altar started moving up and down by themselves.

Rather than answer, Rose and Clara ran thru the energy shield the man had set up as if it wasn't even there and they stepped up to the controls. A moment later, a large holographic display sprang to life above the controls while Rose and Clara worked rapidly.

"What are you doing?" Malachi asked in mounting fear as he pointed his weapon at them.

Clara glared at the man so harshly that he actually flinched, and Rose sensed something much deeper than fear from him.

"Please," he practically begged of them. "If I don't complete my work here… it's my only chance to ever see my wife again."

"No, it's not the only chance," Rose said softly as she quickly helped Clara with the device. He stared at them in shock as they fully deactivated the device and he slumped against the device, looking completely drained.

Rose could feel the man's self-pity overwhelm him as he slumped to the ground. He felt absolutely destroyed inside and she felt terrible for him.

"Clara, take SG-1 back thru the gate and bring the TARDIS back here," Rose told her wife quietly as she made her way around the stone altar to comfort the broken man.

"Okay, friends, time to go home," Clara said as she walked back thru the energy shield and toward the gate.

Rose sat down next to the man and pulled him into a sideways hug as she heard the gate activate. "It's okay," she said softly as she held him. "What can you tell me about what happened to your wife?"

"She died, from a congenital heart weakness," he said with a sniff, embarrassed that he was letting some stranger see him so emotional. "Twelve years ago."

"Oh, is that all?" Rose asked as she helped him get to his feet.

"Is that all?" he parroted back at her, angry at himself for getting emotional and at her for seeming to make light of his pain.

"Well, I could tell you why that's not such a big deal," Rose said with a half-hearted smirk as the sound of the TARDIS started building behind her. "Or, we could just show you."

 **.oOo.**

Rose and Clara smiled as they watched the formerly broken man and his wife as they set off to start new lives in new bodies on Atlantis. It wasn't something they would be able to offer everyone, but once in a while, they could give people their happily ever after.

"You ready to go see what this Director guy is all about?" Clara asked with a content sigh.

"Might as well," Rose said as they walked back into the TARDIS and set course back to the SGC. "But after that," she continued with a sultry grin, "we're taking a vacation in one of these seemingly empty galaxies that the High Council found."

"That sounds like a lovely idea," Clara practically purred before kissing Rose deeply.

Rose felt a pleasant shiver run down her spine as she kissed her wife, just enjoying the moment together while the TARDIS landed, before finally separating. Smirking and winking at Clara, Rose walked over to the doors and made a show of throwing them open.

"Alright," Rose said in mock exasperation. "Let's get this over with. I want to take my wife on a second honeymoon."

Clara blushed as she lightly swatted Rose on the arm. "Don't be such a tease."

"Who's teasing?" Rose asked as she leaned over and kissed Clara on the cheek, earning a smile from General Hammond and a snort of amusement from Director Fury.

"I see what you mean," Fury said to Hammond. "They are definitely free agents, behaving like that."

"Something about which I feel quite grateful for," Hammond replied as he stood up. "Ladies, I hope you'll excuse me while you have a chat with Director Fury. I have to go and debrief SG-1."

"A pleasure as always, General," Clara replied with a smile as he left thru his side door.

"Director Fury," Rose greeted as she gestured towards the still open doors of the TARDIS. "Would you like to join us for some tea?"

"In there?" he asked, skeptically eying their seemingly small ship. "You don't have a flerken hiding in there by any chance, do you?"

"No," Rose responded with a slight tone of surprise. "I'm surprised you've even heard of them. They can be pretty nasty creatures at times."

"You don't have to tell me that," he said as he tapped his eye patch.

"Oh, I can already tell this is going to be an interesting conversation," Clara said with a shake of her head as she and Rose stepped into the TARDIS, leaving Fury to follow.

 **.oOo.**

"Hmmm," Rose pondered after Fury finished recounting the events that occurred just before he first saw the girls. "And you said this race that your friend was with for six years was called the Kree?"

"Yeah. Heard of them?" Fury asked.

"Never," Clara responded. "But, kree also happens to be the Goa'uld word roughly equivalent to your word, attention."

"I wonder if there's some connection there," Rose mused. "Perhaps the two clashed at some point in the past."

"Carol might be able to tell us," Fury said as he pulled out a device from one of his pockets. "But, she made me promise never to use this except in the case of an emergency."

Rose whipped out her sonic and scanned the device so fast that Fury didn't even get a chance to jump away before the scan was complete. "What the hell was that?"

"Just scanned it," Rose said as she went over the readings on the sonic. "It wouldn't work right now anyway according to these readings. Either something has happened to her, or she's gone out of the range of that."

"Well, shit," Fury replied eloquently as he put the modified pager back in his pocket. A flash of light on the table suddenly caught his attention as a watch seemed to materialize where the light disappeared.

"Take this," Clara said. "It will reach us in any universe at any time, barring a few bizarre situations, such as a time lock," she told him with a rueful grin.

"And give us a call if she ever comes back," Rose continued as she and Clara led Fury back to the console room and the entrance. "We'll give her one too."

When they were back outside of the TARDIS, Rose and Clara leaned against the now-closed doors and smirked as Fury leaned one way and then another, checking again the size of the outer shell.

"That's a hell of a headquarters you have there," he told them as he finally sat back down in the chair in front of the General's desk.

"It's our home, actually," Rose said as she patted the side of the TARDIS. "She's the most wonderful home in the multiverse."

"She?" Fury asked with a cocked eyebrow over his good eye.

"She's complicated," Clara said with a full-blown grin as the doors opened on their own.

"Wait!" Fury called as they took a step back into the TARDIS. "You're leaving already?"

"Did you think I was joking when I said I want to take my wife on a second honeymoon?" Rose rhetorically asked with a wink as she closed the doors and faded from view.

Hammond came back into his office as the TARDIS was dematerializing and shook his head in mild amusement as he sat down in his chair.

"Are they always so…" Fury started to ask while trying to find the right words.

"Like that?" Hammond finished for him with a smirk of his own, knowing just how odd the pair could be.

"Yeah," Fury replied.

"That seems to be their general M.O," the SGC commander said with a nod.

 **.oOo.**

When Rose and Clara next stepped out of the TARDIS, it was to an absolutely stunning view of an empty world. Well, empty of sentient life, anyway. Instantly, their outfits changed to matching purple bikinis as they stepped onto "sand" that could only be described as soft and gelatinous in texture, crystalline in shape, and sparkling with so many different colors that they couldn't identify any single color as a base of whatever it was. The fact that the only light in the night sky was a pair of illuminated half-moons, a distant nebula, and countless stars twinkling made the faint glow from within the "sand" all that more pronounced.

"Wow," the girls breathed in unison as they watched gentle waves sparkle in the night.

Clara was the first to dip a toe into the surf, which contained much more than just seawater but the TARDIS scans told them was still safe for them. It flowed over her feet like water but felt as slick as tanning or massage oil. It was so warm that she sat down, letting a gentle wave crash around her which caused her to let out a pleased moan.

"This is heavenly," she told Rose who sat down in front of her with a smirk on her face. "We need to build a simple little cabin right here on this beach as a permanent vacation home."

"That sounds like a lovely idea," Rose said with a content sigh as she felt Clara's arms slip around her and embrace her from behind.

Clara kissed Rose on the cheek just before she hooked her chin over her wife's shoulder and tightening her arms around her middle. "How do you suppose this side of the planet stays so warm when it's tidally locked like this?"

"I think it's just luck," Rose replied softly as she leaned back in Clara's embrace. "With this being the only major landmass and the rest of the planet being some islands and mostly all one big ocean, this unique makeup of the water allows it to retain heat better than normal seawater."

Clara's eyes gained a far-away look to them as she mentally interfaced with the computer core of her necklace and got to work on making another dream of hers come true.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Rose asked as she sensed her partner's mind drift.

"I'm in the computer," Clara responded with a slightly distant voice. "I'm designing a lovely little transparasteel cabin for the mater-energy converter to beam in later."

"Really?" Rose asked with a hint of surprise.

"We've been so busy for the last few years," the brunette continued in her distant tone of voice as she worked on the design in her mind. "The TARDIS is the most amazing home we could ever have… but I also want us to have a place that we can retreat to for a simpler way of life from time to time."

Rose hummed her appreciation at that idea before asking the next question on her mind. "Why transparasteel?"

"There's no other sentient life in this solar system," Clara told her with a grin as her eyes refocused. "So, we don't really have to worry about anyone seeing us besides each other."

Rose leaned back, causing Clara to lay flat as Rose rolled over in place to face her with a radiant smile on her face. "Mrs. Tyler, I do love the way your mind works," Rose said, punctuating each word with a feathery kiss.

"Mmm," Clara hummed happily with each kiss before holding Rose as close as possible and slipping her eyes closed with a content sigh. "I thought you might."

"You're not going to sleep now, are you?" Rose asked with a playful sounding pout to her voice.

"No, love. Just relishing this moment," Clara told her as she opened her eyes again to stare into the honey brown depths of her partner's eyes.

"Good," Rose said as her eyes began to twinkle slightly. "Because it's time to go skinny dipping."

 **.oOo.**

Eleven months later found the girls moon bathing on the beach. They had been surprised that the moons managed to reflect enough ultraviolet light to give them a slight but real tan. It didn't really matter since they could take any form they wanted, but it was something simple that they liked doing together. They had learned some things about themselves over this time too.

For a while, the only thing they wore on their new planet, which they still had yet to name, was their necklaces. They eventually discovered tho, that they didn't even need the necklaces. Everything Rose had designed the necklaces to do, she and Clara could do better and faster with their ascended powers. That was the day that the necklaces were put away in their room on the TARDIS and hadn't been around their necks since.

They were very much enjoying what they decided would be a year-long second honeymoon, but they did have a little contact outside their own little world. They had two check-ins with the Doctor, three appointments to help with this or that on Earth, one check-in with Atlantis, and a chat with their friends on the Ghost and the Mirage. They didn't even need to stop whatever they were doing, being swimming or hiking or just laying out in the moonlight. They could simply mentally interface with the TARDIS and project whatever image they wanted thru the holographic communications.

They had quite a bit of fun exploring their ascended powers as well. It was all a great gift and a load off their minds, but by far, they were most grateful for the 'sharing of essence' ability they had instinctively discovered their first night after being ascended.

"Rose," Clara started as she rolled over to lay half on and half off her wife. "Do you think that this could make up most of our life after we deal with whatever this 'stirring in the void' thing is?"

"I don't see why not," Rose said with a gentle smile. "Why do you ask?"

"There's a part of me, a big part if I'm being honest, that doesn't want to go back to the present," Clara said with a sigh. That had been a shock, but a welcomed shock, when they realized that the TARDIS had brought them to the planet half a million years early.

Rose softly kissed Clara while lazily trailing her fingers up and down her lover's back, enjoying the feeling of her smooth skin. "I know how you feel," Rose responded finally. "It's not like we can't ever come back here tho."

"I know," Clara replied with a kiss of her own. "And I do enjoy living like the doctor, exploring new places, helping people that need saving, I just don't want that to become daily life for us, you know?" she said as she kissed along Rose's jawline to her ear where she nibbled playfully on the lobe before whispering in a sultry voice. "I want this to be our daily life."

Rose shivered and it certainly wasn't due to anything cold. "Okay," the blonde said in barely a whisper.

"Okay?" Clara asked, slightly surprised as she pulled back a bit to search her wife's eyes with her own.

"Okay," Rose said in a stronger voice as she placed her hands on either side of Clara's face and drew her the last inch for a heated kiss. "After we deal with whatever is in the void," she continued when they stopped for a moment, "we'll come back here and settle into a new life. A life where adventures are the vacations instead of the other way around."

Clara climbed the rest of the way onto Rose as they both started to glow. Words were no longer needed.

 **.oOo.**

Back in the TARDIS, their second honeymoon concluded, Rose let out a partially disappointed sigh as she formed her armored battle suit, minus the helmet, over her body. "Where should we go first?"

Raising a questioning eyebrow, Clara did the same. "Expecting trouble?"

"No," Rose said as she brought the engines fully online. "It's just… after this year, I never want to wear clothing again." She chuckled as she smiled at Clara. "I think you've turned me into a nudist. If we're going to risk interacting with other people though, we might as well be prepared for trouble while projecting the image that we are not to be messed with."

With a thought, Clara added a purple accented black cloak to her armor, nodding to Rose to do the same.

"What's the purpose of the cloak then?" Rose asked curiously.

"You look too damn sexy in your armor," Clara said with a grin. "At least this way, you won't be quite as distracting."

Rose snorted humorously at that before repeating her question. "Where to first?"

"How about right here?" Clara suggested. "Just forward to where we had planned. I want to see if the house is still there."

Rose nodded as she and Clara began working the controls while the central rotor glowed and the energy within it swirled around and around. When they landed with the usual thud sound, they stepped out and looked around. The first thing they noticed was a square indent in the ground about a meter away, suggesting the TARDIS was parked there for long periods of time.

"That looks promising," Rose said with a smile.

"That looks better," Clara said pointing a little further down the beach. About twenty meters away was a large fluffy bed that seemed to be almost floating just above the ground. They noticed other things as well, such as a small dining table and chairs, a bunch of showerheads in what was obviously the bathroom, and some other odds and ends. The tinting of the transparent material was so faint it was easy to miss if you weren't looking for it.

They smiled wistfully at each other, obviously looking forward to many more happy years together, before looking around the rest of the area. It seemed nothing else had changed either.

"What is that?" Clara asked with her head cocked to one side as she stared out literally into space, sensing something off in the distance. A moment later, the TARDIS gave a single wheeze and the purple light on the top glowed brightly.

Stepping back inside, Rose went over to the main console while Clara checked the sensors. What she discovered made her eyes widen.

"There is a mass a few light-years beyond the solar system," Clara said. "And it's traveling at FTL speeds, but I'm not detecting more than trace amounts of zero-point energy."

"Only traces?" Rose asked in surprise. "What the hell is powering it then?"

"I'm detecting vast amounts of cosmic energy."

"I've never heard of cosmic energy used for any type of propulsion other than solar sails," Rose said in confusion. "And never anything at those speeds."

"I guess we already have a new mystery to solve," Clara said with a rueful smile.

 **.oOo.**

Talos was walking thru the halls of the ship on his way to get something to eat. He'd just finished making rounds to see how the nearly one thousand other Skrulls were settling in and was pretty worn out. One thousand refugees on a ship designed for one-quarter of that population. They had a few weeks of breathable air left, at best. He was almost to the former lab that was now designated as a mess hall when he heard a strange sound behind him.

Turning around, he saw what looked like a black storage cupboard struggling to dissolve into visibility. The only problem was, this was not like any cloaking technology he'd ever seen, never mind that strange sound it was making. He decided it was better to err on the side of caution.

"Carol, this is Talos," he said into his comm device.

"Hey, Talos," she replied in greeting.

"Can you meet me in corridor three off the mess hall?" he asked. "I'm having a hard time believing what my eyes are trying to tell me."

"On my way," she said seriously.

As the comm cut off, Talos cursed to himself for not carrying a weapon anymore. It would be just his luck that some freak experiment of the Kree would find them way out in the middle of nowhere. He was still staring in disbelief at the strange sight before him when he heard a rush of footsteps too fast to be anyone else.

"What the hell is that?" Carol asked as she came to a stop next to him.

"Oh, good. I'm not hallucinating then," he replied with a touch of relief.

Waving her hand at the mysterious disturbance, Carol tried to scan it, only to get back mixed results. "These readings don't make any sense. It's like one second it's there, and the next it's not. It's acting like a sensor ghost."

"So, hopefully _not_ Kree in origin then?" Talos asked.

"If it is," Carol told him seriously, "it's either brand new or above my former clearance level. I've never seen anything like it. And that sound… it sounds like something is sick."

Without any warning, the strange object seemed to glow with purple energy for a moment, followed by a vicious sounding thud and the black box clearly solidifying into reality. Carol and Talos looked at each other in shock for a moment, before turning back at a squeaking sound, like a door opening, only they couldn't see any difference in the box.

"Talk about a rough landing," they heard a feminine voice say.

"She did not like that one bit," a second feminine voice acknowledged. "I had no idea the speed and energy combo would make landing so difficult."

"We should have just hailed them," the first voice said. "Come on, let's see if we can find out what's going on here."

"You're right," Carol said, still not seeing the source of the voices. "You should have just hailed us… if you're friendly."

First one, then a second figure appeared from around the box. Both figures were clad in some type of black and purple scaly armor, with matching cloaks. One of the new arrivals had a head of long, blonde hair of a slightly lighter shade than Carol's, while the other was dark-haired.

"Hello there," the blonde spoke up with an easy smile. "Sorry to drop in on you like this. We were under the impression that this galaxy was devoid of sentient life. So, naturally, when we detected your ship, we were more than a little curious."

"What makes you think the galaxy has no sentient life?" Talos asked.

"We scanned it," the blonde replied, still with that easy smile.

"You… scanned the entire galaxy?" Carol asked in surprise.

"Well, not us personally," the brunette replied. "Some of our scientists were passing thru a couple of months ago and they scanned it then."

"There's no way they could be Kree," Carol told Talos.

"Kree?" the blonde asked with a look of extreme surprise on her face as she turned to the brunette, communicating with just a look.

"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves," the brunette spoke as she looked back at the two that greeted them. "My name is Clara, and this is my wife, Rose."

Carol cocked an eyebrow and smirked slightly at the word wife before returning the introductions. "This is Talos and I'm Carol," she replied since they only gave their first names.

"Carol… Danvers, yes?" Rose asked, causing Carol to narrow her eyes and clench her fists as if to ready herself.

"What makes you say that?" Carol asked.

"Your name is Carol, he is Talos, you've obviously got some issues with the Kree, and you're absolutely out of range," Clara replied. "It all fits. Fury never gave us descriptions, tho."

"You know Agent Fury?" Carol asked in surprise, turning to look at Talos who was equally surprised.

"He's Director Fury, now," Clara responded with a smirk.

"How's he doing?" Carol asked.

"Why not ask him yourself?" Rose asked as she materialized another comm watch in her palm and held it out to her. "It's a communicator. We gave him one too."

Carol scanned the device before accepting it and strapping it to her wrist where it lit up. She was surprised to see it had a fairly user-friendly contacts list that already had four entries in it. One said SGC, another said Atlantis, the third said TARDIS, and the last said Fury.

"Fury can explain the SGC to you," Rose commented. "Atlantis is our Capitol City, and the TARDIS is our lovely ship here," she continued as she affectionately patted the side of the TARDIS.

Carol tapped the image for Fury and was surprised a few seconds later when she heard a familiar "What the hell?" come from the device before a hologram of Fury appeared over the device.

"Fury?" Carol asked, still very surprised by this turn of events.

"Well, I'll be damned," Fury said as his hologram turned around to face her. "I guess those nut bars stumbled across you too, huh?"

"OI!" Clara half-shouted indignantly. "Watch who you call a nut bar mister Goonie."

"It's good to see you, Fury," Carol said with a smile. "How are things back on Earth?"

"You know," Fury said with a laugh, "there are some things a person never expects to hear in their life and 'how are things on Earth' is certainly up there."

Rose and Clara snickered quietly at that.

"I'm the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. now. Made a few interesting friends here and there. Discovered the planet is fighting a secret war. You know, the usual nine to five."

"Secret war?" Carol asked in concern.

"That has to do with the SGC that he can fill you in on later," Rose said.

"Yeah. We have a few things to discuss," Clara said to the hologram. "We'll contact you when things are settled here."

"Keep in touch," Fury said before his hologram flickered off.

"When things are settled here?" Carol asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"You and your friends are looking for a new homeworld, right?" Rose asked with a grin.

"We'll get you settled in no time," Clara said, smirking at the shocked looks she got for saying that.

Rose beckoned them to follow as she led them into the TARDIS. This was quite possibly her favorite part about traveling. Both guests were clearly in shock, tho Talos seemed to be handling it a bit better. Carol, on the other hand, was whipping her head back and forth trying to take in the entirety of the console room.

"No," Carol said in disbelief. "No, no, no, nope, nuh-huh, hold up," she rambled as she stepped back out of the box and walked around, tapping on the sides of it.

They were both smiling brightly as the former Air Force Captain made her way back into the console room, stuttering to find words.

"But… I mean… but it's… it's bigger on the inside!" she shouted as she tried to wrap her brain around what she was seeing.

"Is it?" Rose asked with great mirth.

"Of course it is," Clara said, equally amused. "You didn't really think we could fit this control room into that little box, did you? Let alone the kitchen, the gardens, the library, the bedrooms, the beach, the pool…"

"I just hope we don't end up getting the pool _stuck_ in the library like the Doctor did for a while," Rose interrupted with a chuckle.

"Come on," Clara said, her smile turning softer. "Let's go to the astrometric lab and try to find you a planet.

 **.oOo.**

It took three days of looking over the compiled data in the astrometric lab and looking at detailed scans for them to decide on a planet that would be absolutely perfect for the Skrulls. It would be even better, considering it apparently had no pollutants and the skrull's technological level was far beyond such pollution-causing industry.

"Looks good," Rose said. "Can you go and stop your ship now?"

"How are we going to get there if we cut the engines?" Carol asked as Talos left to do exactly that.

"We'll tow the ship," Clara explained. "It will be a lot faster this way, but with the ship currently going faster than light speed, combined with all the cosmic energy they are generating, it's like terrible turbulence for the TARDIS."

"Where'd you come up with a name like TARDIS anyway?" Carol asked in curiosity.

"It's an acronym," Rose explained with a huge smile on her face. "Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"It's a time machine?" Carol asked in surprise.

"Somehow, that's always easier for people to accept than it being bigger on the inside," Rose said with a grin.

"There are rules to time travel though," Clara said seriously. "We'll explain that all later, for now, let's focus on getting the Skrulls settled on a new homeworld."

Carol nodded in agreement as she looked back at the hologram of the planet they were considering. Moments later, her wrist comm beeped and Talos reported that the ship's engines were now at idle and they were beginning deceleration thrust.

"That's going to take a few hours to complete," Rose said as she stood up. "While he's working on that, I'm going to make a few upgrades to this ship."

"What kind of upgrades?" Carol asked as she and Clara followed Rose out of the lab and back to the console room.

"As advanced as this ship is," Rose started, "it doesn't have proper hyperspace engines, and it can't land on the planet either. So, I plan to release a nanite swarm to add hyperspace engines and a transporter system, as well as better shields and an improved navigations system and cloaking shields."

"This way," Clara picked up where Rose left off, "the Skrulls won't be stuck on the planet if they want to explore a little."

"Thank you," Carol said with an immense sense of relief. "I've been trying to help them find a new home for years, but it seems like you finally managed it."

"Oh, that's not the end of it," Rose smirked. "Talos said there are still thousands of refugees scattered around the Milky Way. We're going to get you some help with that, too."

 **.oOo.**

Harry and Hermione were looking out over the city from the balcony outside of the main control room, taking a break from various meetings and absolutely mind-boggled at how much life had changed recently. Most of the magical populations of Earth were now on Atlantis with just a small portion electing to stay on Earth to help other species migrate or contact muggle-borns, and even the former pureblood supremacists were decent members of society now. It seemed that every magical human (now Ancients) had been united in a single, common purpose; to live without the fear of discovery from the humans.

"You know, I still sometimes wonder if I'm going to wake up in my cupboard under the stairs with this having all been some elaborate dream," Harry told Hermione as he wrapped an arm around her while she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I know that feeling," Hermione replied with a chuckle. "There is so much more to worry about losing now, other than being expelled."

Harry snorted at that. "Even now, that's not something I ever thought I would hear you say."

"Well, now I have the entire repository of knowledge downloaded into my head," she replied primly, before breaking out into giggles at the look on his face.

"I'm glad things are finally starting to settle into some version of normal," Harry said, looking out over the city which was now teeming with life.

Hermione nodded in agreement but didn't make any further reply as a familiar wheezing and groaning sound was starting to build behind them. They both casually turned around and watched as the TARDIS landed in front of them before the doors opened.

"Hello, Lady Hermione, Supreme Commander," Rose said with a mischievous grin on her face.

Harry groaned in response. "I never should have accepted that position. You're never going to let me live it down now."

"Would you like a rescue mission to take your mind off it?" Clara asked seriously.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, recognizing that now would not be a good time to make jokes.

"This is Carol, from Earth," Rose said, gesturing to a beautiful blonde in an interesting grey, red, and gold uniform. "And this is Talos, of the Skrull people," she continued, introducing a green-skinned humanoid being with pointed ears and strangely reflective eyes.

"Carol has been helping Talos and his people search for a new home far away from a war they were forced into," Clara said. "We got them settled onto a world in one of the empty galaxies you mapped on your way back here, but there are still thousands of Skrulls scattered around parts of the Milky Way."

"Could you take a ship and collect as many of the Skrulls that you can find and bring them to their new home?" Rose asked.

"I have information on a number of planets my people scattered to," Talos said.

"Things are starting to settle down a bit around here," Harry replied with a nod. "I don't see why we couldn't help out."

"I'll give you all the information I have on the Kree, the people hunting the Skrulls, before you leave," Carol said thankfully.

"You're not coming with us?" Talos asked in surprise, only now considering this might be a parting of ways with his once-enemy-turned-friend.

"I have my own world to get back to," she told him gently, but with a note of her own sadness. "I still have a lot of things to figure out, even with my memories being mostly returned. I also have a responsibility to use my power to help others where I can."

"Power?" Hermione queried with a quirked eyebrow. "You're human, aren't you?"

"Thanks to the Kree," Carol said, almost spitting the name, "I'm more of a human-kree hybrid now. The explosion that initially caused me to lose my memories also infused me with a power that I'm still learning about."

"We might be able to help you," Rose said, understanding exactly what it was like to have abilities that no one else could understand.

"I appreciate the offer," Carol started, "but, I expect this is something I'll only be able to figure out for myself."

Turning to Clara, Rose received an affirmative nod and turned back to the other woman, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "I know what it's like to have abilities that it seems like no one else can grasp, we both do. What could it hurt to try?"

"And you're in a city full of people that, until recently, called themselves witches and wizards," Harry said with a smirk. "If anyone can help you, it's them," he concluded with a nod to Rose and Clara.

"Show us what you got," Clara said playfully.

Carol sighed, figuring she might as well, especially if there was even a chance these people might be able to understand her. "Do you have an outdoor target range around here?" she asked. "I'd rather not risk damaging any of this beautiful city you have here."

Hermione waved her hand, conjuring half a dozen targets floating at various distances in the air. "Think that will suffice?"

Carol gasped at that in surprise, a spark of hope starting a fire within here. Rather than answer, she powered up, as she called it. Glowing energy in all the colors of the visible spectrum erupted and started flowing over Carol's body, swirling every which way as she started to hover about a meter in the air.

Floating over and away from the onlookers a bit, she thrust her arms forward sending several blasts of energy out of each of her fists. Less than a second later, all the conjured dummies were reduced to dust that scattered in the wind. Taking a deep breath, she powered down and floated back onto the balcony before turning to face her audience. What she saw really surprised her.

Talos was smiling at her in gratitude as those powers had helped to save his family. Harry and Hermione looked only slightly surprised, but otherwise unconcerned. The biggest surprise, however, was Rose and Clara. The two mysterious girls were smirking at her.

"So," Clara started. to break the ice. "You'll want some help harnessing that and learning to use it without having to gesture?"

"What?" Carol responded, looking completely gobsmacked.

"Lady Hermione," Clara said. "Would you please be so kind as to repeat your conjuration?"

As Hermione did that, everyone stared in shock as Clara started to glow and hover just like Carol had, except with mostly purple energy. Several balls of energy formed in the aura of energy that was coming off her and suddenly shot out, destroying the targets. When Clara floated back down to her feet and dispersed her energy, she looked around at the gawking faces.

"When the hell did you learn to do that?" Harry asked in surprise.

"We've been thru a bit since the last time we were here," Rose said.

"You can both do that?" Hermione asked.

"And a whole lot more," Clara replied.

 **.oOo.**


End file.
